Q2 2021

32 BUILD Q2 2021 Nov20453 Protecting the Future There is a major crisis brewing around the world, and it all revolves around plastics. While immensely versatile, this material has had an incredibly negative effect on the world’s ecology. In the UK, it has fallen to organisations such as 99Plas to find solutions. Their work has seen them named as Best Plastics Recycling Trading Platform – UK in the Recycling and Waste Management Awards 2020. We take a closer look to discover more about what they do, and why there is such a pressing need for their work. lastics have made an immeasurable contribution to the world’s economy, finding a home in almost every aspect of day to day life. From pens to packaging, there is very little that isn’t produced with plastics, and almost nothing that isn’t affected by plastics in some way. Unfortunately, the benefits of plastics, namely the strength of the material, combined with its durability, is also a major challenge for the world at large. Plastics has formed the base for one of the greatest environmental challenges the world has ever seen. It doesn’t decompose, which means that it is ill-suited to use in single-use products, but it is in this realm that most people will find plastics. Production of plastics over the first decade of the 21st Century surpasses that of the plastics industry over the entire previous century. There is a clear need to find ways to reuse and recycle what has gone before. That’s the work of the team from 99Plas. They have taken an innovative approach to this worldwide problem, acting as an innovative B2B e-commerce trading platform for waste and reprocessed plastics where clients can buy and sell with ease and confidence. The heart of the business is a green business model that has the singular aim of producing the transformation solution to the plastics crisis that is being faced in the UK. The unique knowledge that the team holds about plastics and the plastics industry makes them the ideal choices for those who want to make a real difference to the environment. The centrepiece of their efforts is their online platform, which is specifically designed for the selling of plastic waste, regrind, and recycled pellets. This approach has made 99Plas one of the leading plastic recyclers in the UK using an innovative data set to help plastic traders find the best resource and efficient customers for plastics recycling around the world. The dataset is highly specialised, and adapts to the needs of the moment. It takes into account a variety of factors when it comes to plastic recycling that go beyond the specifics of plastics themselves. Transport costs and the amount of fuel used are just two of the extra considerations made by the app when it suggests partners to turn to. The system has been established specifically to benefit companies in the UK. The way in which the team have leveraged their extensive P knowledge of plastics and passion for tackling the crisis has been key to the securing of success. The work that the team has done has proven to be incredibly forward thinking when compared to the rest of the industry, with their green business model and approach being vindicated by recent updates from the environmental agency with respect to the Basel Convention. These updates revolve primarily around the exportation of contamination-free plastics and the ‘Green List’ waste. Historically, 99Plas has encouraged the export of contamination-free plastics, while also trying to source quality recyclable products for companies within the UK. This recent legislative change is a positive step, and will enable more businesses to export materials from the UK throughout 2021 and beyond. The COVID-19 pandemic has obviously affected every industry, and the team behind 99Plas is no exception. Their workload has been majorly affected by the business of shipping companies and forwarders who have had to adapt to the new normal of working from home. While things are now operating smoothly, there are the unique challenges of not working on the ground while also accounting for COVID-19 safe operation that has made life a challenge. Sometimes, supplies are unable to ensure that their products are able to be collected and delivered as a result of these factors.