The Vietnamese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD), in collaboration with the World Wide Fund for Nature in Vietnam (WWF-Vietnam), held a high-level forum on new approaches for sustainable agricultural landscape

Significant investment is needed to reduce lifecycle carbon impacts as the circular plastic economy develops and redesigning is the opportunity to clean up plastic packaging as sector GHG emissions are predicted to rise 75%, says Woodmac

Plastic pollution caught and maintained the world’s attention in the mid-2010s as images of marine environments ravaged by deposits of disposed of plastic led global governments and corporations to commit to improving the circular plastic economy, according to a report by Wood Mackenzie (Woodmac), a global energy, chemicals, renewables, metals and mining research and consultancy group.

Woodmac opines that the packaging industry has embarked on a transformative journey according to the company with a range of initiatives designed to increase the sustainability of the plastics value chain – from virgin plastic to the ongoing recycling of those elements with longer potential life. While recycling emerged as a front-runner for effective end-of-life treatment of plastics, a comprehensive solution requires a step-change in how brands and consumers think about the role of packaging in the first place.

 Wood Mackenzies model shows that the plastic sector GHG emissions will rise by 75% by 2050. Polymers currently account for ~4% of energy-related emissions. While the value chain will become more carbon-efficient, robust demand growth will result in 48 gigatonnes of emissions by the looming deadline of the Paris Agreement.

The packaging sector is beginning to explore new solutions to reduce plastic consumption. In this Circular Plastic Packaging Report, Wood Mackenzie leverages its ‘Material Applications Platform’ to simulate a scenario in which the industry seeks to redesign its approach towards packaging.

 Andrew Brown, head of plastic and recycling research at Wood Mackenzie, said, “This ‘packaging redesigned’ scenario reflects our view of an aggressive approach towards adopting new technologies and business models with three main principles guiding the effort: elimination, substitution and reuse.

“Rigid packaging applications are most impacted by redesign models. In this scenario, bottles, for example, would consume about 16% less plastic each year than otherwise forecast, while other rigid applications may see 14% of annual demand displaced by 2040.”

If the industry fails to pick up the redesign baton, Wood Mackenzie estimates that plastic packaging demand will more than double by 2050 – driven largely by an emerging middle class in developing Asian and African economies.

Olivia Loa, a polymer sustainability analyst at Wood Mackenzie, said, “Recycling will play an important role in meeting rising demand while reducing the environmental impacts of the packaging sector. Bottle recycling rates are expected to rise from just below 50% globally in 2020 to 67% in 2040. However, it won’t be sufficient to achieve the gains required, and if the industry is unable to grasp the nettle an increasingly stringent regulatory response to driving change is the most likely outcome. 

The report further emphasises that suppressing demand through packaging redesign, increased recycling and sourcing low carbon power will be absolutely key to mitigating base-case emissions growth – and value chain collaboration is vital to address the challenge systematically.

Cambodian government’s special emergency loan scheme worth US$100mn to aid SMEs and the agriculture sector in an aim to resuscitate the economy

Agri-biotech company Elicit Plant has closed its financing round to boost the development of its water stress management solution in agriculture, with support from the European Circular Bioeconomy Fund (ECBF)

Drought has always posed a serious threat to farmers around the globe. With climate change and the rise in extreme weather events, this threat is only increasing. Elicit Plant provides farmers with a natural and efficient solution against hydric stress. The US$18.28mn funding round will be used to accelerate the development and commercialisation of its first two BEST-a products.

Established in 2020, the ECBF supports companies developing innovative technologies, circular business models and sustainable, bio-based products.

The financing includes an equity component led by Sofinnova Partners. It is supported by the ECBF, BPI France, and historical investors Aquity-NACO as well as Crédit-Agricole CPE. It also comprises a portion provided by a pool of banks and support programmes from the New Aquitaine region and BPI France.

Jean-François Déchant, president and co-founder of Elicit Plant, said, “The very significant support we have received from internationally renowned investors such as Sofinnova Partners and ECBF, is testimony to the quality of our technology and the enormous potential of our solution. We are now in an ideal position to accelerate our development and offer a unique solution to farmers that will enable them to respond effectively to the challenges of climate change as well as become a global champion for environmental change in agriculture within the next five years."

Elicit Plant has developed a proprietary technology based on phytosterols, substances naturally found in plants, to offer a solution to the water-stress-resistance for field crops. Its products address part of an estimated US$4bn global market for bio-stimulants. 

The technology developed in its laboratory in Charente, France, and at its site in São Paulo, Brazil, naturally stimulates plants metabolism, reducing their water requirements. By doing so, it increases their resistance to water stresses such as drought. Field trials have shown yield increases of up to 20%. Independent French and international research institutes, traders and cooperatives have validated this impact. Since market approval in May 2021 Elicit Plant is marketing its first two BEST-a products for water stress control in corn and soy crops internationally. 

Stéphane Roussel, partner of ECBF, added. "By improving crop resistance to drought, Elicit Plant is addressing a critical pain point and a source of massive economic losses for farmers and their communities. Elicit Plant’s technology unlocks the potential of an entire class of naturally occurring molecules never used in agriculture before. In addition to their solid scientific background and in-depth knowledge of the agricultural world, we were also impressed by the teams speed and quality of execution."