CRDC – Habitat for Humanity from CRDC Global on Vimeo.
The plastics industry is positioning itself — and in some cases is poised — to earn a share of the $1 trillion infrastructure bill approved by the US Senate in a bipartisan vote on Sept. 7. The bill is intended to rebuild the nation’s roads, bridges, and other crumbling infrastructure, and fund new climate-resilient projects as well as broadband initiatives.
While the bill likely will be delayed when it is presented to the House for approval, where it is expected to receive opposition from some Democrats who think the bill is not sufficiently expansive, it still will offer opportunities to some plastics manufacturers in the transportation and infrastructure sectors.
The Plastics Industry Association is a fan of the bipartisan bill, “which includes key provisions to enhance waste management and replace aging lead pipes with plastic pipes,” said President and CEO Tony Radoszewski. “The waste management provisions will enhance our nation’s recycling infrastructure as well as consumer participation. The legislation provides funding support for a recycling infrastructure grant program created by the Save Our Seas 2.0 Act, which was signed into law last year. The bill also includes language from the RECYCLE Act, which sets aside funding to increase consumer education and participation in the recycling system.”
Several global entities recently announced new sustainable initiatives that have close ties to the building and construction and infrastructure sectors.
A “concrete” impact on plastics and construction
The Alliance to End Plastic Waste, a global non-profit organization, and the Center for Regenerative Design and Collaboration (CRDC), a South Africa–based company founded in 1997, announced Sept. 14 a partnership to scale up a system to convert hard-to-recycle plastic waste into a concrete additive used in building and construction applications. CRDC will develop a 14,000-square-foot production plant in York, PA, to increase its capacity. The company will also scale up its existing production plant in Costa Rica to a full-scale commercial capacity of 90 tons per day when fully operational by mid-2022. (The video above shows the Valle Azul sustainable housing project in Costa Rica, a collaboration between CRDC, Habitat for Humanity, Dow, and local organizations.)