Dow Chemicals and Meijer Partner to Use New Plastic Recycling Technology
it was reported that Dow Chemicals has partnered with Meijer to enable a new plastic recycling technology for creating a more durable parking lot for the retailer’s Holland, Michigan, supercenter, by using recycled plastic bags.
On 12th November, it was reported that Dow Chemicals has partnered with Meijer to enable a new plastic recycling technology for creating a more durable parking lot for the retailer’s Holland, Michigan, supercenter, by using recycled plastic bags.
The parking lot will be modified using the recycled polymer modified asphalt (RPMA) in a three-phase pilot project. The project is expected to use approximately 12,500 pounds of post-consumer recycled plastic (PCR), which is the equivalent weight of 944,000 plastic grocery bags.
In a press release, Rick Keyes, president and CEO of Meijer, said, “Meijer operates under the philosophy that to be a good company, we must be a good neighbor and that often means working with other likeminded companies on a common goal. We are committed to lessening our impact on the environment and are pleased to partner with our customers and Dow in the largest in-state project of this kind to better demonstrate our commitment to a circular economy through recycling and reusing plastic to better ensure a more sustainable future.”
The press release also stated that, this project “brings recycled plastic bags full circle, and represents a long-term collaboration between two Michigan companies working toward a more sustainable future.”
Commenting on the project, Vik Srinivasan, senior vice president of Properties and Real Estate at Meijer, said, “Lessening our impact on the environment through increased recycling efforts is an issue that's important to us, which is why we believe this pilot project is just one of the ways we can bring our current recycling efforts full circle while improving our customer shopping experience.”
All the recycled plastic used in the project was deposited by Meijer customers through the retailer's in-store plastic film recycling program. This year, Meijer said the company expects to recycle 6 million pounds of plastics through this program.
Dow started working on these projects in Indonesia in 2017, in partnership with the Indonesian government towards its goal of reducing plastic waste in the ocean by 70 percent by 2025. Dow also completed a RPMA public street at The University of Missouri, earlier this year.
Dow has also completed the construction of two RPMA roads at Dow's Freeport, Texas site; two roads at the Dow Sabine River Operations where ELVALOY RET is produced; and four public roads and two parking lots in the Great Lakes Bay Region of Michigan. All these projects have estimated to use approximately 14,000 pounds or more than 1 million recycled plastic bags.
