Plastics News - Show Daily - October 21, 2022 - 3

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Plastics News, October 21, 2022 * 3
At K, a 'Searious,' muscular
protest over plastics use
A
By Steve Toloken
Plastics News Staff
s protests go, it was a bit,
well, low-profi le and understated.
But
fi ve well-muscled
gentlemen in swimming trunks
took to the K 2022 fl oor Oct. 20,
as part of the plastics-minded
group Searious Business, to try
to raise awareness of environmental
issues.
The Netherlands-based group,
which advocates for policies to
cut plastics pollution and partners
with industry on reusable
packaging programs, was hoping
its stunt would cut through the
commotion of K.
Think a small band of surfers
walking around a plastics trade fair.
" We wanted to get a little bit
of attention, and it's quite diffi -
cult at the K Messe because it's
so large and it's such a sort of
sober, formal business-style atmosphere
and we don't have
anything to exhibit like a large
giant piece of machinery, " said
Emma Samson, marketing communications
manager, as she
led the trunk-clad group around
show halls.
" We still wanted to draw attention
to the importance of reducing
plastic and reusing plastic
and recycling plastic and makEmma
Samson, marketing communications manager for Searious
Business: " We wanted to get a little bit of attention, and it's quite
diffi cult at the K ... because it's so large and it's such a sort of sober,
formal business-style atmosphere and we don't have anything to exhibit
like a large giant piece of machinery. " Plastics News photo by Caroline Seidel
ing
things
circular, " she said.
" We thought the best thing to
do would be to inject some new
blood and bring some new boys
into the old boys' network and
shake things up a little bit.
" I think people are quite used to
seeing glamorous women walking
around, so we thought we'd bring
some glamorous men, " Samson
said. " It is such a male-dominated
industry; there's very few women
working in it. We think it's time to
shake things up a bit. "
The group, which calls itself
a social enterprise, does have a
more formal spot at K.
Willemijn Peeters, its founder
and director, is speaking on an
Oct. 21 panel at the Plastics Europe
booth on environmental
issues. But
Samson said Searious
Business wanted to
separate Peeters'
speech and the attention-getting
stunt.
The men, who
PLASTICS
EUROPE
Hall 6,
Booth C40
were hired performers
for the day and not members
of the organization, handed out
business cards saying " The Best
Things Come Unwrapped, " with a
QR code link to its website where
companies can do a " plastics
scan " to assess their use of the
material. The site, seariousbusiness.com/plastic-scan,
makes recommendations.
It was developed
by Samson's group and the International
Union for the Conservation
of Nature.
Samson said they see value in
plastics but doesn't think the industry
is moving fast enough on
environmental issues. It argues
that plastics pollution is at a " crisis
point " and points to studies
that plastic production is on pace
to triple globally by 2060.
" We work with plastics all the
time; we're not anti-plastics, "
she said. " We think plastics has
its place, like when we're talking
about reducing climate change.
But it needs to be dealt with in a
different way.
" We think the whole system
needs to be looked
at, " she said. " All of
the people who can
do that are in this
building because it
has to come from the
plastics industry. "
Samson said the
group wandered
around the show halls for about
90 minutes, meeting with a mix
of " friendly interest and a little
confusion. "
For those at the show, it wasn't
immediately clear on the group's
approach what it was about, other
than perhaps looking like an
unlikely group of exercise diehards,
fresh from the gym or pool,
walking around the halls.
While the little group attracted
attention, Samson said she didn't
see nearly as many examples of
packaging reuse as she'd hoped
for in the booths they visited.
" Lots of photos taken and whispering
so we achieved the buzz we
were looking for, " she said. " There
was a lot of claims about circularity
on every stand this year, but no
one wants to talk about reduction,
of course. It isn't in their interest
to make less plastic. Well, if not
less, then at least better plastic
should be achievable. "
The men handed out business
cards saying " The Best Things
Come Unwrapped, " with a QR
code link to its website where
companies can do a " plastics
scan " to assess their use of
the material.
http://www.seariousbusiness.com/plastic-scan http://www.seariousbusiness.com/plastic-scan
Plastics News - Show Daily - October 21, 2022

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