There should be little doubt that government policies across the globe will play a critical role in stimulating, rebuilding, and reshaping economies staggering from the damage wrought by the coronavirus pandemic, which came at the time most were pushing forward with burgeoning sustainability and circularity efforts.

LLDPE’s usefulness has fuelled its growth in market share in film applications as well as in the global production of the polymer. The total global capacity in 2012 was 30m tonnes; by 2025, ICIS projects it to be more than 56m tonnes. In that time, North America will have nearly doubled its production capacity for LLDPE, while Asia will have more than doubled its capacity. The Middle East will have increased LLDPE capacity by 55% during that timeframe as well.

However, lldpe resin virgin has a major drawback – it is not easily recycled, or at least the infrastructure is not in place currently to do it efficiently. It is excluded from many curbside recycling operations, and LLDPE film is typically contaminated after use by the food or other substances it was used to package. Trying to wash used, the stuck-together film seems about as easy as walking a cat on a leash. Innovation is needed here, and that is where government policy and economics come in.