Four household names join a task force convened to improve the sustainability of a class of polymers reportedly worth $125 billion each year, according to an article from the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC). New members to the RSC’s Sustainable Polymers in Liquid Formulation (PLFs) Task Force are Walgreens Boots Alliance, Dow, Northumbrian Water and United Utilities. They join existing members Unilever, BASF, Croda, Crown Paints, Scott Bader and Afton Chemical. The group reportedly aims to create a collaborative strategy to drive innovation throughout the value chain and across diverse sectors including cosmetics, water treatments, lubricants and agricultural products.
RSC established the task force after its reports showed that an estimated 36 million tons of PLFs are made and sold each year – enough to fill London’s Wembley Stadium 32 times over, according to the organization. As a group of thousands of different chemicals, PLFs are used as ingredients for specific functions from helping paint stick to walls to hydrating the skin. Due to their wide variety of uses, PLFs might be considered an often “forgotten” group of polymers with common challenges and solutions, according to the RSC.
Professor Tom Welton, president of the Royal Society of Chemistry, says in the article, “Our report last year proved to be a real landmark moment. It identified common sustainability challenges facing polymer ingredients used in most households and workplaces – and said that we must address this without delay. Identifying how we can start to provide solutions and giving these chemicals a collective name, Polymers in Liquid Formulations, has allowed us to engage with some of the biggest companies in the world to spearhead action through our task force.”
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