Plastic industry has a crucial role in strengthening economic sustainability, a Plastics Image Survey conducted in 2009 in six countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) revealed. The Gulf Petrochemicals and Chemicals Association (GPCA) at its recent forum, highlighted the finding in the survey that showed that the tendency to damn plastics undermined the valuable contributions of modern plastic products in driving sustainability. The industry association acknowledged that the issue of litter deserves greater attention, but the solution to the problem is disposal in a responsible way and more focus on reuse, recyle and recovery (of the energy embedded in those products). Laurence Jones, vice president, Corporate Support, Borouge (Abu Dhabi Polymers Company Ltd) and member, GPCA Plastics Committee presented the findings of the survey and explained GPCA's position at the concluding breakout session of the Fourth Annual GPCA Forum in Dubai, titled “Pursuing Sustainability in the Chemical Industry.” The GPCA Plastics Image Survey was conducted in mid-2009 among a target group of literate adult public in urban agglomerates, in the age group of 16 to 60 years in Bahrain, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar and the UAE. With 389 respondent options and 7,036 respondents, the survey included more than 2.7 million measurement points. The survey was conducted by Germany's consultancy firm Requista. The survey compared the public's perception of and attitude towards plastics industry and plastic products as compared with other industries and products. It found that the respondents had spontaneous knowledge of plastics and its diverse positive applications in modern life, and fared well in comparison with other industries and products. It reported strong public acceptance of plastics as essential for packaging for food storage and safety and its use in diverse applications in kitchen appliances, IT, medical and personal care, baby products, automobiles, buildings and others. Pointing out that 21st century plastics were much more than shopping bags, Jones relied on the science of plastics and statistics to emphasize the role of plastics in supporting sustainability. He stated that in the last 15 years, lightweight plastic components in cars have gone up from 3 percent to 11 percent, leading to a 14 percent decrease in petrol consumption. In the developing world, up to 50 percent of all food is wasted between harvest and home for lack of packaging options and in the more developed, packaging-oriented societies, wastage is reduced to around 3 percent. “The same plastics are used in retail packaging as in life-critical medical applications. The average shopper uses more oil driving to the supermarket than is used in all the plastic packaging that protects their goods,” Jones said. He noted that without plastic packaging, distribution vehicle fleet will have to make 50 percent more trips to outlets adding that much more to emissions and fuel consumption. The weight of packaging increases four-fold without plastic packaging, resulting in 50 percent more energy for packaging and 60 percent increase in the volume of waste. Dr. Abdulwahab Al Sadoun, secretary general of GPCA, who moderated the concluding session of the Forum, said the Association wants its members to be frontline ambassadors in promoting plastics' benefits. The Association will seek to strengthen public awareness of the versatility of plastics and the need to divert the debate on plastics to reuse, recycle and recover.
