Plastic pollution – big problem, big opportunity
Plastic pollution is a widespread issue, and the number one environmental concern of the New Zealand public, according to Kantar’s recent research. But the source of much of it, and therefore the possible solutions, lie in the hands of a few manufacturers.
The results of a recently published, comprehensive research paper found just over half of all plastic pollution could be identified by brand, and of it, over 50% of that could be attributed to just 56 companies. While it highlights the disproportionate impact of a few companies, it also points to the opportunity for large-scale, positive change these organisations have.
Big picture
The research used data collected between 2018 and 2022, was carried out by 13 international organisations, including Massey University, and spanned 84 countries.
It found just five companies produced 24% of the branded plastic identified in the worldwide audits the research drew from: Coca-Cola Company (11%), PepsiCo (5%), Nestlé (3%), Danone (3%), and Altria (2%).
Crucially, the research found a direct, one-to-one, correlation between plastic production and plastic pollution. In other words, every extra 1% of plastic produced results in 1% more plastic pollution.
Big problem, big opportunity
The results of the research show that plastic producers have the chance to have a big, positive impact.
Plastic pollution is easily the most emotive and well understood environmental issue among consumers. Government regulation, driven largely by public awareness, is also becoming more of a factor. Producers leading the way and working alongside legislators can result in better outcomes all round.
Brands which take effective, properly designed, genuine, and well-socialised steps to reduce how much plastic they put to market stand to reap the benefits, both reputational and economic, while reducing environmental impact
As the authors point out, “The strong linear relationship between plastic production and branded plastic pollution, across geographies and widely varying waste management systems, suggests that reduced plastic production is a primary solution to curb plastic pollution.”
They further note that in the past the focus has been mostly on action by consumers and waste management. Consumer action is still important, and nothing moves the needle quite as effectively as when people change their spending habits, but there’s a “growing realisation that upstream actions by plastic producers have a vital role in addressing the problem.”
Stewardship and circular thinking
This isn’t to say brands aren’t doing anything, with many taking action to increase things like recycled content and recyclability of plastic packaging. More solutions and fresh approaches need to be well-thought-out, well-researched and the possibility for unintended consequences fully explored.
A great local example is the finding of construction company Naylor Love that the humble single-use cable tie made up 10kg of waste on one of their job sites alone. They collaborated with Mitre 10 to make a reusable version available “off the shelf” at stores around the country. Reusing a cable tie five times would reduce waste from this one product by 80%.
Product stewardship is a highly effective way of achieving better outcomes for products. This is because well-designed stewardship, which uses circular economy thinking, takes a whole-of-life cycle approach. Moving up the pipeline to the design phase takes a product’s end of life into account to eliminate things like excess packaging and avoid single-use products. Product stewardship can also help increase and support reusability and repairability.
It takes a holistic approach, which could mean understanding and redesigning systems that are currently outside an individual company’s control. It could mean redesigning recycling collection systems and redesigning products so they can be more easily repaired or more efficiently recycled – think of all the lids which are currently lost to landfill in New Zealand.
Not going away
Plastic pollution is one of the biggest environmental challenges we face. The pervasive nature of the material, thanks to its affordability, durability and ability to keep products fresh, means we aren’t likely to be rid of it any time soon.
It’s possible though to tackle the impact it has on the environment. This will require a collaborative approach – producer action, government regulation and consumer demand.