A new report from Minderoo and SYSTEMIQ has revealed how global efforts to reduce plastic waste are being thwarted by a lack of transparency that extends the length and breadth of the plastics supply chain.
Every month, over one million tons of plastic enters rivers and oceans worldwide, and billions of dollars are spent by governments in attempting to manage plastic waste. At the same time, much of the industry of plastic producers, users and investors operate under a shroud of mystery.
Global efforts to change industry practices, including producing less plastic from virgin feedstock, collecting more plastic waste, and increasing recycling, are all significantly hampered by a lack of data, information and intelligence, and well-intentioned efforts are falling short of their expectations and potential.
To address this challenge, Minderoo Foundation and SYSTEMIQ have devised and reported a global approach to transparency, titled “Clearing a Path Through the Waste: Transparency in the Plastics Supply Chain”, to inspire the appropriate action from public and private sector stakeholders, and from civil society groups.
“The current lack of transparency extends to all players in the plastics supply chain – from producers and users of plastics, to waste managers and investors,” explained Nakul Saran, COO of Minderoo Foundation’s Sea The Future program.
“There is little to no information on how materials flow from production to disposal, how virgin plastics production is funded, the true impact of plastic pollution on social, environmental and economic systems, and on the responsibilities, strategies and commitments of stakeholders involved.”
“For the world to do something effective to address the plastic pollution crisis, we first need to shine a light on the entire supply chain of plastics from source-to-sink, and enable better decision-making.”
The report calls for:
• outside-in and shadow reporting based on the collection, analysis and publication of data, knowledge and insights (regardless of the involvement of industry) by academic institutions, non- government organisations, intergovernmental organisations and commercial analysts;
• greater public and investor pressure for the voluntary disclosure of data and information by industry, to better compare plastic producers and users and motivate them to improve; and
• increased, regulated disclosure of data and information on plastic use, impacts and mitigation strategies by governments and policymakers.
“While the amount of ocean plastic flow is expected to triple in the next 20 years, the good news is that we have today all the technologies to dramatically reduce this by 80 per cent in the same timeframe,” SYSTEMIQ founder and managing partner Martin Stuchtey said.
“But make no mistake, this will not be easy. We need to start from a place of radical transparency across the supply chain – from petrochemical suppliers and producers, to retailers and recyclers. This data provides the basis from which business and government can take effective decisions and actions to end ocean plastic pollution in a generation.”
Read the report and the press release.
