Coca-Cola, Hillenbrand seeking circular plastic case studies

U.S.-based packaging technology provider Hillenbrand Inc. is working with The Coca-Cola Co. and nonprofit group Net Impact to co-host the second Circular Plastics Case Competition, which encourages emerging business professionals to rethink the plastics value chain by designing innovative solutions that help keep plastics in the economy and out of the environment.

“Designed to foster innovation and champion sustainability, the competition invites participants to collaborate and generate industry-shifting ideas to increase the supply of postconsumer recycled material, or PCR,” Hillenbrand says.

RELATED: Embracing unreasonableness

This year, the case competition is asking participants to explore how to increase the supply of recycled-content polyethylene terephthalate (rPET).

“Focusing on turning PET into rPET helps create a more circular economy by using plastic that has already been produced and helps solve the current supply challenges with rPET, as it is not keeping pace with demand due to low recycling rates,” the company says.

Case study submissions are due in March, and in May, finalists will make online presentations that will be broadcast during the NPE event in Chicago.

The eventual first-place winner will be awarded $10,000, followed by $2,500 for second place and $1,000 for third place.

“Plastics are essential to our economy and will continue to play an important role in our future, making it crucial to concentrate on enhancing sustainability within the plastics value chain,” Hillenbrand CEO Kim Ryan says.

“We initiated this competition to engage the next generation to think creatively and develop solutions that promote a circular plastics economy. Our partnership with Net Impact has been invaluable in driving progress.”

Hillenbrand and Net Impact developed the Circular Plastics Case Competition concept in 2022 and held the first competition in the spring of 2023. California-based Net Impact, which has more than 130,000 members in more than 300 chapters at colleges, universities and other locations worldwide, describes itself as a developer of new concepts and approaches to help leverage “the tools of business toward the greater good.”

This year, Hillenbrand and Coca-Cola will guide the topic and goals of the competition while Net Impact will facilitate the competition by bringing together its global network of social impact and sustainability leaders to address the challenge.

“The conversation around making a circular economy for plastics is dynamic and incredibly exciting, and this program brings emerging professionals into that conversation by allowing them to grapple first-hand with the complex questions that sustainability practitioners are facing today,” Net Impact CEO Karen Johns says. “Program participants will learn about material circularity, life cycle analysis and responsible supply chain management and learn to think like a sustainability manager at a large corporation today.”

“By focusing this year’s challenge on rPET, we hope to unearth innovative strategies to increase the supply and overcome the present restraints," Coca-Cola North America Vice President Kurt Ritter adds. "This competition symbolizes our commitment to fostering innovation and sustainability, and I am confident that the unique perspectives and resourceful ideas of the participants will help us advance a more circular and sustainable economy.”

More information about the 2024 Circular Plastics Case Competition, including how to apply, can be found here.