2018 - The tipping point year in plastics

So here we are. At the end of probably the most important year in the history of plastics.

If even the Queen of England becomes explicit about her plastics use intentions.

If 2018 was the year with the first plastic attacks in retail shops.

If 2018 was the year when microplastics were discovered in the deepest place on Earth, the Marianas Trench… and in all our bodies!

If plastic insights were fanning out in 2018, reaching the fields of toxicity for humans and for the whole eco-system. And reaching our minds - finally.

If plastics were linked to climate change, because of their energy-intensive ultra-global logistic chains, transporting them half planets before they appear in our products.

And if this was the first year they did not ship back from Europe to Asia, after “they were done”. Border closed. Fair enough.

In Belgium we had the first edition of Mei Plastiekvrij (May Plastic free), with analogous wake-up and awareness initiatives in many other countries. I even heard a governmental representative dream of a “plastic-free city”. Success!

Yes, plastics came – finally – ALIVE! In our minds and in our dreams. So far, they were dead ever since their birth. Those cheap and anonymous dead plastics… Not worth to think about. As from 2019, none of us will ever look at plastics as we did before – as far as anybody had looked at them before at least.

This was the year where it became very clear that we have to change our plastics industry and our plastics habits. Drastically. Honestly, it has been the year we have been awaiting at B4plastics. Finally, we hear our own vision screamed on social media and in radio and television programs: “The plastics industry will have to change!” (Zucht) That needed some energy and patience…

You can guess we have been preparing and streamlining for this moment. The moment that could not be planned. We just believed it would come, and better soon than late. Not so much for us, but for the planet. Though our whole reason of existence for the company was linked to that moment. You can call it a risk. Or a vision. Up to you. It doesn’t matter anymore. It has happened now. And we are happy to be in the game, well prepared. Finally we can press our exclusive green buttons.

In a game, participation is important, but leadership is even more important. Because the plastics industry and its consuming society is found in chaos. At B4plastics, we have some guiding products and concepts in the pipeline. We are looking forward to the launch of some never-seen products and business-societal experiments, challenging the current gravity points of responsibility and power in the value chains of plastics. Now that we have reached the tipping point in the historical 2018 plastic (r)evolution, let’s blow some pleasant ecological plastic winds soon. You might enjoy its breeze.

From our core business, we daily create the ecological plastics that have never been made before, optimized for specific applications. (Re)designing and testing and making the plastics that will have secured their place in a sustainable world – in our belief. Because it is not about “banning” plastics. It is about “redesigning” them. To create much smarter variants, from scratch. They should not accumulate in food chains anymore. They should degrade on command, in a controlled way. Depending on the place and the conditions they have to function in, or they can be leaked into afterwards. And they should be made more and more from renewable resources harvested locally. We have fruits and cheese and beer and wine from our own countries. It is our mission to add ecological plastics to that list.

And warming up for a new special year, now that you looked plastics in the eyes for the first time: we will help you to fall in love with them. So that you become part of the game. The real power is in the people.

Happy and explorative and courageous 2019 to everybody!