CEOs Build New Business Models to Solve the Plastic Pollution Problem

There will be another round of discussions before any UN treaty is signed, but it’s worth noting that businesses have come together through groups like the U.S. Plastics Pact to deal with the problem.

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): As a kid, I loved listening to my dad extol the virtues of the polyvinyl flooring business he ran: the softness, durability, water resistance, insulation properties, and price. Its odor sometimes made me dizzy as I’d run through his warehouse, but, compared with wood or ceramic tiles, plastics seemed like a cool product. The cheap versatile material is so attractive, former Unilever CEO Paul Polman has noted, that plastics now weigh twice as much as all animals on earth. So a lot of eyes are now on Ottawa, as policymakers from around the world wrap up the latest round of talks to create the first global treaty to reduce plastic pollution.

Nobody is more aware of the challenges of dealing with plastics than those who have built a business around it. Dow CEO Jim Fitterling, a founding member of the Alliance to End Plastic Waste, recently told me about how his company is focused on creating a circular economy. The key is getting brands to integrate recycled materials into their products by offering comparable quality and an attractive price point.

Materials company Eastman operates what’s been called the world’s largest chemical recycling plant, with more facilities due to come on line. CEO Mark Costa argues that the complexity of the plastic waste challenge requires collaboration on all fronts. “If we want any chance of scaling up solutions to this significant challenge,” he says, “we need policy that incentivizes investment in both mechanical and chemical recycling that meet key environmental principles.”

Surendra Patawari, a pioneer in the global recycling industry who founded Gemini Corp., collects plastic waste from more than 300 locations worldwide every month. He’s concerned that regulatory challenges are making it harder to recycle plastics. There’s often not enough plastic “feedstock” for recycling facilities which, in turn, reduces investments in recycling. People want to recycle plastics but often not in their backyard. Encina Corp. recently canceled plans for a plant in Pennsylvania because of pushback over potential pollution from that process.

There will be another round of discussions before any UN treaty is signed, but it’s worth noting that businesses have come together through groups like the U.S. Plastics Pact to deal with the problem. “All eyes are on Ottawa and everybody’s fighting for their own interest, maybe rightfully so,” says Patawari. While reducing plastics is a priority, he argues, “if we don’t deal with the cost of the waste we have created, we are doomed.”

Meanwhile, as Alan Murray winds down his tenure as CEO of Fortune, here is a comment from IBM CEO Arvind Krishna on what the brand has meant to him.

“I have always been an avid reader of Fortune, a publication that not only chronicles but shapes the narrative of modern business. Its great reporting and analysis make it an influential and indispensable guide to the forces impacting companies, markets, and the world.”

Courtesy: www.fortune.com

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