Operation Clean Sweep Blue Verification Launches to Help Achieve Zero Plastic Resin Loss

About About International Get Involved Membership OCS OCS Blue OCS Logistics OCS Supporters Our Members Events Resources News About About International Get Involved Membership OCS OCS Blue OCS Logistics OCS Supporters Our Members Events Resources News Press Release Operation Clean Sweep Blue Verification Launches to Help Achieve Zero Plastic Resin Loss WASHINGTON, D.C. (SEPT. 27, 2023) — The Plastics Industry Association (PLASTICS) and the American Chemistry Council (ACC) are excited to announce the launch of Operation Clean Sweep® (OCS) Blue Verification, a new program designed to further the plastics industry’s goal of keeping plastic in use and out of the environment. The launch of OCS Blue Verification brings a new level of rigor and transparency to the more than 500 facilities in the U.S. under the OCS Blue program through an external, facility-level inspection program. Operation Clean Sweep was founded by the Plastics Industry Association in 1991 and is managed in partnership with the American Chemistry Council’s Plastics Division. The industry-led program is dedicated to helping companies move toward zero plastic resin loss and is active in more than 60 countries worldwide. OCS members in the U.S. represent a diversity of the plastics value chain, ranging from companies making and distributing plastic, to transportation companies moving plastic, and processors manufacturing final products. “Preventing pre-production plastic from entering the environment is a top priority for PLASTICS’ members and the entire industry,” said PLASTICS President and CEO Matt Seaholm. “OCS Blue Verification underscores this commitment and ensures all OCS Blue members are held to rigorous management practices while working towards a future where all plastic remains in the circular economy.” “America’s plastic makers have led the charge to be good stewards in resin and pellet management,” said America’s Plastic Makers President Ross Eisenberg. “We are taking significant measures to increase transparency and knowledge sharing that will lead to safer, cleaner communities in the U.S. and abroad.” OCS Blue’s required management practices demonstrate significant leadership in industry-led, voluntary stewardship to protect the environment, preserve water quality and wildlife, and strengthen worker safety.  OCS Blue Verification is a new mandatory requirement for all material suppliers and processors in OCS Blue and is uniquely available to OCS Blue members in the U.S. To become OCS Blue Verified, a facility must demonstrate that it has successfully implemented 29 required management practices ranging from robust risk assessments to comprehensive employee training and data reporting. OCS Blue Verification inspections will be conducted by trained and approved OCS Blue Verifiers that meet eligibility requirements. The first verification cycle extends through the end of 2025 and continues every three years moving forward. PLASTICS and ACC encourage resin producers, converters, shippers, distributors and recyclers – anyone who handles plastic resins – and credentialed press to register for a webinar on OCS Blue Verification to be held on Oct. 25, 1-2 p.m. ET, and reach out to [email protected] for additional information and to join OCS Blue. The Plastics Industry Association (PLASTICS) is the only organization that supports the entire plastics supply chain, including Equipment Suppliers, Material Suppliers, Processors, and Recyclers, representing over one million workers in our $548 billion U.S. industry. PLASTICS advances the priorities of our members who are dedicated to investing in technologies that improve capabilities and advances in recycling and sustainability and providing essential products that allow for the protection and safety of our lives. Since 1937, PLASTICS has been working to make its members, and the seventh largest U.S. manufacturing industry, more globally competitive while supporting circularity through educational initiatives, industry-leading insights and events, convening opportunities and policy advocacy, including the largest plastics trade show in the Americas, NPE2024: The Plastics Show. The American Chemistry Council’s Plastics Division represents America’s Plastic MakersSM plus the half million+ scientists, engineers, technicians, and other innovators who make plastics for many essential and lifesaving products that are vital to modern life. America’s Plastic Makers continue to embrace change. We’re linking innovation with sustainability, deploying next generation technologies to make plastics lighter, stronger, more efficient and more recyclable, so we can meet our goal for 100% of U.S. plastic packaging to be reused, recycled, or recovered by 2040. We’re making sustainable change to help build a cleaner, safer, more sustainable future for generations to come. 

OCS Blue Verification: Everything You Need to Know Ahead of the 2024 Launch

About About International Get Involved Membership OCS OCS Blue OCS Logistics OCS Supporters Our Members Events Resources News About About International Get Involved Membership OCS OCS Blue OCS Logistics OCS Supporters Our Members Events Resources News OCS Blue Verification: Everything You Need to Know Ahead of the 2024 Launch Charlotte DreizenPLASTICS Director, Sustainability and Environment Now, more than ever, it’s important for industry to set ambitious goals towards achieving zero plastic resin loss and simultaneously demonstrate that strong practices are in place to prevent loss of resin into the environment. That’s why in six short months, Operation Clean Sweep® (OCS) will launch a new facility-level verification program that brings an expanded level of rigor and transparency to OCS Blue, its most robust tier of membership. Through OCS Blue Verification, companies will be able to show stakeholders, from customers to shareholders to regulators, that strategies to prevent and mitigate plastic resin loss have been successfully implemented across facilities. Read on to learn more about how the OCS Blue Verification program, applicable to any plastic resin-handling operation in the U.S., will work and can add value to your company. How was the OCS Blue Verification program developed? Starting in 2021, a diverse group of OCS Blue members and industry experts spanning the country developed the OCS Blue Verification program, including material suppliers, processors, service providers, and transportation companies. This process included multiple pilots at OCS Blue member companies to help understand how inspections worked in practice and incorporate feedback into the program’s development. Who can participate in OCS Blue Verification? OCS Blue Verification will be exclusively available to OCS Blue member companies in the United States. Will OCS Blue Verification be required for all OCS Blue members? Once OCS Blue Verification is launched in 2024, all OCS Blue members will be required to participate. How will verification cycles work for OCS Blue Verification? OCS Blue Verification’s first cycle will run for two years, from January 2024 through December 2025. Future verification cycles will be three years, starting with the 2026 through 2028 cycle, to align with the timing of international OCS inspection programs. How many facilities will be required to achieve OCS Blue Verification? In each verification cycle, OCS Blue members must verify a certain number of their facilities, based on the overall number of eligible facilities in their portfolio, divided into three tiers. A facility is eligible if it handles more than one ton of plastic resin per year.     For companies that do not have a total number of facilities evenly divisible by the percentage, the number of facilities will be rounded up. For example, if an OCS Blue member has five facilities, two will be required to achieve verification in each cycle. If a member has one facility, that facility will be required to secure verification in each cycle. The facilities required to become verified in each cycle are considered a minimum and, if a member chooses, they may verify more than the required minimum or all of their facilities in a given cycle. However, this does not impact the number of facilities required to achieve verification in future verification cycles. If my company joins OCS Blue, will we have to participate in OCS Blue Verification right away? Depending on the point in the verification cycle at which your company joins OCS Blue, your company may be required to participate in OCS Blue Verification in the current verification cycle. For companies that join in the first half of a verification cycle, participating in OCS Blue Verification for the current cycle will be required. For companies joining past the half-way point in the verification cycle, participating in OCS Blue Verification may begin in the following verification cycle. Does my company select which facilities will achieve OCS Blue Verification in each cycle? OCS Blue members select which facilities will be inspected for OCS Blue Verification. The program recommends that members select a mix of facilities based on geography, size, and function. How will an OCS Blue Verification inspection work? An OCS Blue member will contract directly with an approved OCS Blue Verifier to conduct an OCS Blue Verification inspection. The OCS Blue Verification inspection can be conducted in a stand-alone manner, scheduled alongside a Responsible Care® or ISO inspection, or integrated into certain environmental management system audits including RCMS:2019, RC14001, RCMS:2023, RC14001:2023, or ISO14001:2015. Once scheduled, a company will provide preliminary background information to the inspector, in advance, on management practices. During the on-site OCS Blue Verification inspection, implementation of 29 required management practices in five categories will be assessed. These management practices are outlined in the forthcoming OCS Blue Verification Framework. If implementation of required management practices is successfully confirmed, the OCS Blue Verifier will notify the OCS program. For any gaps in implementation observed, the member must submit a Nonconformance Response to the OCS Blue Verifier within 60 days that successfully demonstrates resolution of the gap. What happens after a facility achieves OCS Blue Verification? For every facility that becomes OCS Blue Verified, a Certificate of Verification will be provided, and the facility will be added to a public registry of verified facilities. These achievements can be shared in your company’s annual sustainability report and ESG reporting, as well as with customers and stakeholders. Which inspectors should our company use to do the on-site inspection? Companies can hire approved OCS Blue Verifiers to conduct an OCS Blue Verification inspection. To become an approved OCS Blue Verifier, an inspector must complete the OCS Blue Verifier training and meet certain eligibility requirements. OCS Blue Verifier Training will be offered to inspectors starting in August 2023 on a monthly basis through the launch of OCS Blue Verification and on a periodic basis thereafter. Please reach out to [email protected] if you would like to refer an inspector to the OCS Blue Verification Training program or for complete OCS Blue Verifier eligibility requirements. I have additional questions. How can I get them answered? If you would like to discuss OCS Blue Verification further or explore OCS Blue membership, please reach

PLASTICS and ACC Announce Three New Members to Elite Operation Clean Sweep blue Status

About About International Get Involved Membership OCS OCS Blue OCS Logistics OCS Supporters Our Members Events Resources News About About International Get Involved Membership OCS OCS Blue OCS Logistics OCS Supporters Our Members Events Resources News Press Release PLASTICS and ACC Announce Three New Members to Elite Operation Clean Sweep blue Status WASHINGTON, D.C.—The Plastics Industry Association (PLASTICS) and American Chemistry Council (ACC) today announced the addition of three new members to Operation Clean Sweep blue. The elite status is achieved by exceeding rigorous standards set by Operation Clean Sweep® (OCS). OCS is an industry-led campaign dedicated to helping every plastic resin handling operation prevent plastic resin loss. New OCS blue Designees  BASF (Florham Park, NJ) DuPont (Wilmington, DE) Eastman (Kingsport, TN).   “Creating chemistry for a sustainable future is not just a tagline. We are proud to work with others along the value chain to drive a positive impact, which is why BASF signed on to OCS blue as a clear commitment to pellet loss prevention and protecting the environment,” said Gülay K. Serhatkulu, Senior Vice President, Performance Materials North America, BASF Corporation. “At DuPont, we are committed to a set of bold sustainability goals that are good for our communities and for our planet,” said Alexa Dembek, Chief Technology & Sustainability Officer, DuPont. “Joining Operation Clean Sweep blue underscores our commitment to best practices in facilities management and operation, including responsible resin handling and pellet containment processes.” “Eastman is committed to accelerating a more circular economy, and as that commitment stimulates product innovation at Eastman, it also inspires us to apply the same principles to our operations,” said Kellye Walker, Executive Vice President and Chief Legal Officer, Eastman. “By joining Operation Clean Sweep blue, we are underscoring our circularity efforts with our zero-incident mindset approach to safety, ethics and compliance — driving continual improvement and creating a better circle.” “PLASTICS is proud of managing Operation Clean Sweep. Our industry recognizes the importance of ensuring that plastic is manufactured in a way that seeks to eliminate the loss of resin into the environment,” said Patrick Krieger, Senior Director of Materials and Sustainability at PLASTICS. “This requires coordination across the supply chain and dedication to sharing best practices and interventions. OCS blue reflects a commitment by these organizations to take this a step further seeking to become leaders in this mission. We welcome our newest members to the program and look forward to learning from and with them.” “America’s plastic makers congratulate the latest companies to achieve OCS blue status, and we encourage every company that makes or handles plastic pellets to do the same,” said Joshua Baca, ACC’s vice president of plastics. “Plastics are essential to a safer, cleaner, lower-carbon world – and all of us must work together to keep these advanced materials out of the environment.” The OCS blue achievement demonstrates these three companies’ commitment to preventing plastic from entering the environment or becoming marine debris. By achieving this elite status, these companies are held to a higher standard to eliminate plastic resin loss by conducting site audits, increasing employee awareness, and improving equipment, processes and procedures at their facilities. For more than 25 years the plastics industry has promoted OCS, a campaign dedicated to helping every plastic resin handling operation prevent plastic resin loss. The Plastics Industry Association (PLASTICS) and the American Chemistry Council (ACC) strongly encourage companies to take their commitment – a pledge committing to OCS principles by plastics companies or plastics employees – to the next level. About Plastics Industry Association The Plastics Industry Association (PLASTICS) is the only organization that supports the entire plastics supply chain, representing nearly one million workers in the $432 billion U.S. industry. Since 1937, PLASTICS has been working to make its members and the industry more globally competitive while advancing recycling and sustainability. To learn more about PLASTICS’ education initiatives, industry-leading insights and events, networking opportunities and policy advocacy and the largest plastics trade show in the Americas, NPE: The Plastics Show, visit plasticsindustry.org. Connect with PLASTICS on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram. About the American Chemistry Council The American Chemistry Council (ACC) represents the leading companies engaged in the business of chemistry. ACC members apply the science of chemistry to make innovative products and services that make people’s lives better, healthier and safer. ACC is committed to improved environmental, health and safety performance through Responsible Care®; common sense advocacy designed to address major public policy issues; and health and environmental research and product testing. The business of chemistry is a $486 billion enterprise and a key element of the nation’s economy. It is among the largest exporters in the nation, accounting for ten percent of all U.S. goods exports. Chemistry companies are among the largest investors in research and development. Safety and security have always been primary concerns of ACC members, and they have intensified their efforts, working closely with government agencies to improve security and to defend against any threat to the nation’s critical infrastructure.