Barely 10% of plastics are recycled globally today; plastic has become a serious terrestrial and ocean pollution problem that requires urgent attention. Mark Spalding, President of The Ocean Foundation, moderated a webinar discussion titled Exploring Investor Solutions for Restoring the Ocean, in which participants discussed the current state of order as well as possible solutions to plastic pollution. He spoke with Bridget Croke, Vice President of External Affairs of Closed Loop Partners, an impact investing firm focused on the development of the circular economy; Conrad MacKerron, Senior Vice President of As You Sow, a non-profit leader in shareholder advocacy; and Angela Howe, Legal Director of Surfrider Foundation, a community of everyday people who protect the ocean, waves, and beaches. Together, these experts shared their insights to galvanize action.
The Discussion: What’s Possible & What’s Happening Now
From the outset, Mark emphasized the need to re-engineer packaging and to ask fundamental questions early in the design stage: Does this product require plastic packaging? Are there alternative materials that are better suited for function?
After this line of questioning, if plastic is still considered the most appropriate material to use, we need to at least simplify it. There is a growing sector of the packaging industry that comprises multilayer packaging, which becomes difficult to recycle. Facilities struggle to separate the different layers of plastics and other materials that are mixed in. Consequently, Mark encourages us to think about standardizing the polymers we use so that we are able to recover value from them in a circular economy.
Angela from Surfrider Foundation draws our attention to another important area of discussion: legislation and policy in this arena. Things are heating up with more and more legislative action emerging on a local, state, and global level; notably, treaties like the Basel Convention focus on plastic pollution, and the EU’s plastics directive in 2018 tackle the subject. Equally, movements like Break Free from Plastic are gaining momentum and puttingpressure on large corporations.
Conrad from As You Sow builds on this, talking about his organization’s successes regarding engaging large corporations through shareholder activism, and helping brands make the right choices. As You Sow recently launched an international coalition of investors—Plastic Solutions Investor Alliance—to engage publicly traded consumer goods companies on the threat posed by plastic waste and pollution. Twenty-five institutional investors with a combined $1 trillion of assets under management have signed a declaration on plastic pollution citing plastic pollution as a clear corporate brand risk. Nestle, Procter & Gamble, PepsiCo, and Unilever are currently the four consumer goods companies they are initially engaging with.
Conrad notes that the pace of change is rapid, with companies becoming far more responsive and willing to rethink their packaging and strategies pertaining to sustainability. Initiatives which might previously have taken years to implement can now take months. He feels that the investment community is poised to become a big player in negotiating further opportunities to reduce plastic waste and protect our oceans.
Bridget from Closed Loop Partners emphasizes that there are investable opportunities in the space and there is a need for capital injections across the entire value chain to solve for the challenge. She notes that there is unlikely to be a silver bullet; instead, we need to invest in both near-term and long-term solutions with clear paths to scaling.
Importantly, emerging technologies and solutions already exist to tackle the issue of plastic pollution. A recent report by Closed Loop Partners highlighted 60 technology providers that purify, decompose, or convert waste plastics into building blocks for new materials. Other companies are piloting new delivery models that could replace plastic packaging altogether: vending machines used to dispense products in reusable containers, or new feedstocks to replace Styrofoam packaging. All of these solutions need capital to scale fast enough to meet demand.
The good news is that a number of large banks and brands know this. Closed Loop Partners has leveraged additional capital to catalyze the development of the circular economy through co-investors like Goldman Sachs, Citi, Comerica Bank, and Engie.
The Future: Growing Momentum for Change
What becomes clear throughout this discussion is that the momentum for change is only growing, whether it manifests itself through increased shareholder activism, legislative action, or shifts in capital toward more circular systems. This should give us hope for a waste-free future in which our oceans’ health is fully restored. We’re excited to see what is to come.
-Bridget Croke, VP of External Affairs, Closed Loop Partners
Bridget Croke leads external affairs including investor partnerships, industry partnerships, communications and special projects at the Closed Loop Partners. Bridget has been been working on sustainability, circular economy and turning waste into value for 20 years through organizations including Fair Food Project of Philadelphia, Recyclebank and Purpose before Closed Loop Partners.
-Georgia Sherwin, Communications Associate, at Closed Loop Partners
Georgia works on spreading the word about Closed Loop Partners and its work in the development of the circular economy and the impact investing space. Prior to joining Closed Loop Partners, Georgia worked in Business Development and Marketing at Inspiring Capital, and has varied experience in other start-ups, non-profits and social enterprises.
