An alliance of global companies from the plastics and consumer goods value chain have launched a new organization to advance solutions to eliminate plastic waste in the environment, especially in the ocean.
Known as the Alliance to End Plastic Waste (AEPW), it consist of nearly thirty member companies, who have committed over $1.0 billion with the goal of investing $1.5 billion over the next five years to help end plastic waste in the environment.
This comes at a time when scientists worry about the global threat of plastic. A 2015 study reported in the Journal of science found that there is on average 8 million metric tons of plastic that enters the ocean from land every year. This is enough plastic to fill every foot of coastline in the world with five plastic grocery bags filled with plastic.
To combat this menace, the Alliance says it will develop and bring to scale solutions that will minimize and manage plastic waste and promote solutions for used plastics by helping to enable a circular economy. The Alliance membership represents global companies and located throughout North and South America, Europe, Asia, Southeast Asia, Africa, and the Middle East.
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“Everyone agrees that plastic waste does not belong in our oceans or anywhere in the environment. This is a complex and serious global challenge that calls for swift action and strong leadership. This new alliance is the most comprehensive effort to date to end plastic waste in the environment,” said David Taylor, Chairman of the Board, President and CEO of Procter & Gamble, and chairman of the AEPW. “I urge all companies, big and small and from all regions and sectors, to join us,” he added in a release published by Shell.
“History has shown us that collective action and partnerships between industry, governments and NGOs can deliver innovative solutions to a global challenge like this,” said Bob Patel, CEO of LyondellBasell, and a vice chairman of the AEPW. “The issue of plastic waste is seen and felt all over the world. It must be addressed and we believe the time for action is now.”
The Alliance is conceived as a not-for-profit organization that includes companies that make, use, sell, process, collect, and recycle plastics. This includes chemical and plastic manufacturers, consumer goods companies, retailers, converters, and waste management companies, also known as the plastics value chain.
The Alliance has been working with the World Business Council for Sustainable Development as a founding strategic partner. It said it will partner with cities to design integrated waste management systems in large urban areas where infrastructure is lacking.
This work will include engaging local governments and stakeholders, and generate economically sustainable and replicable models that can be applied across multiple cities and regions, fund incubator programmes on proper plastic management, develop data base and information on best practices and assist in recycling schemes around the world.
The group says the program is designed to capture plastic waste before it reaches the ocean from the ten major rivers shown to carry the vast majority of land-based waste to the ocean.
The founding members of the Alliance are BASF, Berry Global, Braskem, Chevron Phillips Chemical Company LLC, Clariant, Covestro, Dow, DSM, ExxonMobil, Formosa Plastics Corporation, U.S.A., Henkel, LyondellBasell, Mitsubishi Chemical Holdings, Mitsui Chemicals, NOVA Chemicals, OxyChem, PolyOne, Procter & Gamble, Reliance Industries, SABIC, Sasol, SUEZ, Shell, SCG Chemicals, Sumitomo Chemical, Total, Veolia, and Versalis (Eni).
