Indulge me a bit more as I continue my discussion from the last issue of The Current on the great Energy/Climate/Sustainability initiatives in which our Chamber Members are leading the way.
Last week, BP announced a $25M investment in Illinois at their R&D hub in… Naperville! They will be piloting an enhanced recycling technology that enables currently un-recyclable plastic waste to be diverted from landfill or incineration and instead transformed back into raw materials. This new pilot plant is planned to be located in Naperville, and it is expected to be operational in late 2020.
BP sees the potential to develop multiple full-scale commercial plants using this technology around the world. If deployed at scale in a number of facilities, BP estimates that the technology has the potential to prevent billions of plastic bottles and trays from ending up in landfill or incineration every year.
This is exciting news for our business community not to mention our environment. NACC is so proud to have this advancement and investment in our backyard.
Also last week, I was able to meet personally with Chuck Chaitovitz, Vice-President of Environmental Affairs & Sustainability with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce during his visit to Naperville. As I mentioned in my earlier blog, I will be serving on their U.S. Chamber Task Force on Climate Action to ensure our members stay informed on climate policy development impacting our businesses and have a voice in the process.
Don’t forget to complete the Naperville Environmental Sustainability Task Force (NESTf) business survey at this link: http://bit.ly/nestf-business-survey NESTf is a group of community leaders who are charged with recommending to the Naperville City Council long term strategic plans to promote the environmental and economic sustainability of our community. We are excited that Catherine Pawlowski with Executive Premier member, IKEA, is now involved with this group sharing IKEA’s robust sustainability models.
If you have an interest becoming more involved with the climate conversations, please contact me at rosborne@naperville.net or (630) 544-3387.