The Coca-Cola Company has withdrawn from the Plastics Industry Association, and PepsiCo plans to leave at the end of 2019. The news was announced on 23 July by environmental group Greenpeace and confirmed by Dow Jones.
Greenpeace highlighted the trade association’s “secretive” lobbying against plastic bag bans. “Companies understand that they cannot publicly say they want to end plastic pollution, while financially supporting an association that lobbies for our continued reliance on throwaway plastics,” says a Greenpeace executive.
According to Dow Jones, a Coca-Cola spokesperson said that the company “withdrew earlier this year as a result of positions the organization was taking that were not fully consistent with our commitments and goals.”
The Plastics Industry Association acknowledges that Greenpeace has been pressuring prominent brands to leave the group.
“This is unfortunate — consumer brands are integral to making sustainability commitments into realities, by working with their suppliers to make lasting change,” says Patty Long, interim president and CEO. “Once again, we invite Greenpeace to work with us to help implement meaningful and sustainable advances to improve our environment, such as modernizing and expanding recycling infrastructure.”
By Clay Boswell
Source: Chemical Week
France has launched an offshore green hydrogen production platform at the country’s Port of Saint-Nazaire this week, along with its first offshore wind farm. The hydrogen plant, which its operators say is the world’s first facility of its type, coincides with the launch of another “first of its kind” facility in Sweden dedicated to storing hydrogen in an underground lined rock cavern (LRC).
The project sets up the Hydrogen Valley in Rome, the first industrial-scale technological hub for the development of the national supply chain for the production, transport, storage and use of hydrogen for the decarbonization of industrial processes and for sustainable mobility.
At first glance, hydrogen seems to be the perfect solution to our energy needs. It doesn’t produce any carbon dioxide when used. It can store energy for long periods of time. It doesn’t leave behind hazardous waste materials, like nuclear does. And it doesn’t require large swathes of land to be flooded, like hydroelectricity. Seems too good to be true. So…what’s the catch?
