Covestro spreads awareness to fight plastic waste

German materials manufacturer Covestro walks the talk with regards to the fight against plastic waste. As a founding member of the global ‘Alliance to End Plastic Waste’, the company takes action and conducts various initiatives and events in the APAC region throughout the year and for World Ocean Day and World Environment Day.

“Already during their use, plastics contibute to sustainability – for example by making cars lighter or reducing the energy use of buildings by insulating them efficiently. When it comes to the end of their lifecycle, they are still just too valuable to end up in landfill or the ocean”, said Dr. Christian Haessler, Head of Sustainability for Covestro. ”We thus undertake various measures to prevent any waste of this valuable resource and foster longevity and recycling of our products. In our own plants we try to avoid any pellet loss and we join forces within industry alliances like in the ‘alliance to end plastic waste’. We also reach out to communities and the youth around the world. Only together we can master the challenge of the plastics circular economy and make the world a brighter place.”

Publishing an app to educate children in a playful way
In Taiwan, the company since 2017 worked together with 96 schools, three museums and nine national parks across the country to educate on the responsible treatment of waste. Within two years, Covestro and its partners have reached about 34,000 children all over the country.

During world ocean day 2019, the company launched a bilingual story app called “Bright Minds for a Brighter World: The Adventures of Young Guardians”. It allows children (and their parents) to discover in a playful way why it is important to treat the environment responsibly and how to do just that.

The app has received support of nine national parks and three national museums which will use it to combat plastic pollution. In the course of the year, the app shall be implemented in China as well, where Covestro operates its biggest manufacturing site worldwide near Shanghai. This also fits into the schedule of the local Shanghai government, which intends to implement mandatory domestic waste separation starting from July 1st.

Cooperation with NGO’s and reaching local communities
In Hong Kong, Covestro since 2017 cooperates with the local WWF to educate children and students on how to avoid litter and treat the environment.

In 2019, the two partners invite 100 students to various nature reserves operated by WWF in Hong Kong. There they will collect water samples and analyze them for microplastics. The Kong Kong Polytechnical University will also help with the analysis. The results of this sampling and analysis shall be published in a study that will be used to advocate for further actions, also towards to local government.

In India, in a campaign coined ‘Captain Earth’, the company engaged their employees in all three production plants to repurpose  household single-use plastics and turn it into an artwork or a useful tool. Employees are also engaged in tree plantation and organized awareness sessions with their families to help them understand topics such as waste management and pollution. Employees there also created paintings and sculptures on this topic within the plant premises.

Taking it a step further, Covestro India also launched an awareness programme on waste management focusing on circular economy addressing the stakeholders around its premises. The company organized the so called ‘Uberslashies dialogue’ in Mumbai which is a platform where students get an opportunity to interact with industry experts and design solutions for the city’s waste management. The first leg of the programme was held on 7th June at Navi Mumbai with students of an architecture college.

From waste to value
In Thailand, the “Brighter Future, Better Vision” campaign was kicked-off on June 5. The campaign, under the concept ‘turn trash to treasure’, aims at giving knowledge about plastic waste management to employees and communities. It was also encouraging Covestro employees at all sites in Thailand including office and plants to collect used plastic waste and bring it back into the cycle by turning it into recycled polycarbonate material. This material will finally create value again and be brought back to the communities, for example in the form of new eyeglasses for students in schools around Covestro’s Map Ta Phut plant to help support on education.

About Covestro:
With 2018 sales of EUR 14.6 billion, Covestro is among the world’s largest polymer companies. Business activities are focused on the manufacture of high-tech polymer materials and the development of innovative solutions for products used in many areas of daily life. The main segments served are the automotive, construction, wood processing and furniture, and electrical and electronics industries. Other sectors include sports and leisure, cosmetics, health and the chemical industry itself. Covestro has 30 production sites worldwide and employs approximately 16,800 people (calculated as full-time equivalents) at the end of 2018.

Find more information at www.covestro.com.
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Forward-looking statements
This news release may contain forward-looking statements based on current assumptions and forecasts made by Covestro AG. Various known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors could lead to material differences between the actual future results, financial situation, development or performance of the company and the estimates given here. These factors include those discussed in Covestro’s public reports which are available at www.covestro.com. The company assumes no liability whatsoever to update these forward-looking statements or to conform them to future events or developments.