During 2012, Braskem participated in Rio+20, which was the world's most important sustainability event organized by the United Nations (UN) since the Earth Summit held in 1992 in the city of Rio de Janeiro. Twenty years ago, the Rio Summit (as it is also known) marked a seminal moment in the introduction of the concept of sustainable development by uniting 108 heads of state to discuss the economy, the preservation of natural resources and the planet's future.
Rio+20 seeked to renew the political commitment to sustainable development by assessing the progress made and the gaps that remain in implementing the decisions adopted by the major summits on sustainability issues, while also enhancing related governance systems. The conference debated two main themes: the green economy in the context of sustainable development and poverty eradication and the institutional structure for sustainable development.
At the the Riocentro Convention Center located in Parque dos Atletas (Athletes Park) and the other sites where the events were held, 50,000 ecobags and the same number of squeeze bottles were made available to participants, both of which are made from Braskem's Green Plastic, a polyethylene derived from sugarcane ethanol, which is a renewable raw material.
Braskem also set up a real recycling plant right in the middle of Rio+20, which transformed plastic waste into furniture made from plastic wood. The initiative was a partnership between Braskem and the environmental engineering company Cetrel to show new ways how plastic can be used and to create a new post-consumer cycle for this material. The plant operates in Parque dos Atletas, which was one of the focal points of the event. Those visiting the plant learned about the entire process used to make household items such as benches, planting boxes and trash cans from recycled plastic.