C-MACC Weekly “CRETER” (Climate etc.)
New (Polymer) Kids On The Block: The Challenges Of Adolescence
- New production routes, including renewables, to conventional polymers, are complicating an already opaque picture of the best course for the plastics industry
- New and low carbon polymers do not address plastic waste issues unless large sub-sectors can switch to compostable polymers with consumer buy-in
- Most new technologies are largely untested, and almost all untested at scale, and for several, feedstock availability may challenge reaching scale economics
- In some cases, valuations already factor in success and not much risk, and we question whether some can deliver on their promises and on time
- Otherwise, we talk about hydrogen, carbon offsets (and the possible value of direct air capture), aviation fuel, ESG activism, & the geopolitics of climate change
See PDF below for all charts