Product Made from Recycled Ocean Plastic

Product Made from Recycled Ocean Plastic As part of a new initiative to advance the use of recycled ocean plastic, SABIC and Microsoft Corporation collaborated to create the Microsoft Ocean Plastic Mouse, the first consumer electronics product featuring an outer shell containing 20% recycled ocean plastic from Microsoft. Ocean plastic is defined as a third-party certified plastic recovered from any ocean or waterways feeding an ocean, or washed ashore from these locations. Ocean plastic differs from ocean-bound plastic, which is recovered from waterways feeding the ocean, coastal areas, and inland regions within a 50-kilometer radius of the ocean. The two recycled materials play complementary roles in helping address the problem of plastic waste in the oceans. Microsoft initiated this project with the goal of developing a plastic resin made from at least 10% recycled ocean plastic as part of its commitment to achieve zero waste by 2030. After hearing the project's initial vision, SABIC joined efforts to source recycled material and formulate a resin that met Microsoft's rigorous quality standards. This effort resulted in multiple reformulations before reaching a final version that exceeded Microsoft's original 10% target. The final product contains 20% recycled ocean plastic by weight in its outer casing or "shell." The SABIC-Microsoft collaboration envisions SABIC providing a new XENOY™ resin comprising 20% ocean plastic for Microsoft product applications as part of SABIC's TRUCIRCLE™ portfolio and services. This new XENOY resin with recycled ocean plastic can help reduce plastic waste in the ocean. For example, according to a resin class consisting of 20% recycled content from recycled ocean plastic XENOY™ PC/PET compound in every 1 kiloton of product, 24 million single-use 0.5-liter PET [1] [2] water bottles equivalent [3] are removed from the ocean, waterways feeding the ocean, or ocean-adjacent shorelines. This project has also provided a blueprint to the broader industrial sector, demonstrating that the recovery and reuse of valuable plastic resins recovered from the ocean, waterways feeding the ocean, or washed ashore from these locations can be achieved when value chain partners leverage their knowledge and expertise and work together. Abdullah Al-Otaibi, General Manager of SABIC ETP and Market Solutions, addressed these important advances in plastic recycling, stating: "SABIC faced a unique challenge in overcoming the degradation of ocean plastic to create this innovative solution - plastic loses much of its original properties due to exposure to sunlight and water. Our collaboration with Microsoft represents an exciting development in the recycling and reuse of ocean plastic to create high-quality consumer electronics products that meet Microsoft's high performance expectations while also playing a role in cleaning the world's oceans." Frank Kuijpers, General Manager of SABIC Corporate Sustainability, added: "This addition to our TRUCIRCLE portfolio is another indication of SABIC's collaboration with the value chain to help create new value from used plastics. By creating more sustainable materials and establishing new partnerships, we are setting an example for the industry on how we can transform difficult-to-recycle materials like ocean plastic into innovative products that can meet our customers' high-quality demands." Donna Warton, Vice President of Microsoft Supply Chain and Sustainability, said: "As part of our commitment to reducing waste, we set out to demonstrate the viability of recycled ocean plastic as a material for use in consumer electronics. The Microsoft Ocean Plastic Mouse, with an outer shell made from 20% recycled ocean plastic, is the first consumer electronics product made with this XENOY resin. We are proud of our collaboration with SABIC in creating this new resin from a challenging material that would otherwise remain as waste in the ocean. We hope this first step toward recycled ocean plastic will encourage further action in our industry and we are excited for customers to experience the product." The collaboration builds on SABIC's announcement in April of this year that it has become an industry pioneer in developing ocean-bound plastics. These ocean and ocean-bound materials form part of SABIC's TRUCIRCLE portfolio and services, showcasing the company's circular innovations and can help provide customers with access to more sustainable materials. In doing so, SABIC aims to help its customers give end consumers greater confidence in purchasing products with the knowledge that the material has been recycled and produced in a way that helps protect our planet. SABIC's TRUCIRCLE portfolio encompasses a range of products and services, including design for recyclability, mechanically recycled products, certified circular products from feedstock recycling of used plastic, certified renewable products from bio-based feedstocks, and closed-loop initiatives to recycle plastic to high-quality applications and help prevent valuable used plastics from becoming waste. [1] Source: World Economic Forum [2] LIFE CYCLE IMPACTS FOR POSTCONSUMER RECYCLED RESINS: PET, HDPE, AND PP, Franklin Associates, A Division of Eastern Research Group (ERG) December 2018 [3] http://www.petresin.org/news_didyouknow.asp