23 January 2019: Procter and Gamble has co-founded the cross value chain, ‘Alliance to End Plastic Waste,’ with nearly 30 organizations and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD). The Alliance will help to eliminate plastic waste in the environment, particularly in the ocean, with a focus on the parts of the world where the challenge is the greatest.

The Alliance aims to develop and scale solutions to minimize and manage plastic waste, with a focus on enabling a circular economy. Alliance projects will partner with cities from around the world to design integrated waste management systems where there is a lack of infrastructure, especially in areas along rivers that transport large amounts of plastic waste from the land to the ocean. The Alliance will develop an open source, science-based global information project to support its projects in collecting data and facilitating reliable data collection, methodologies, metrics and standards to help governments, companies and investors accelerate actions to stop plastic from entering the environment.

The Alliance will contribute over USD 1 billion in order to invest USD 1.5 billion over the next five years to end plastic waste.

The Alliance will fund ‘Circulate Capital’s Incubator Network’ to develop and promote business models, entrepreneurs and business models that improve waste management and recycling and prevent plastic waste in the oceans, with an initial focus on Southeast Asia. Further, the Alliance will also support the ‘Renew Oceans’ programme, which works to capture plastic waste before it reaches the ocean from ten major rivers that carry the majority of land-based waste to the ocean. Initial efforts will focus on the ‘Renew Ganga’ project. Additional projects will address education and engagement, infrastructure development, technological innovation and clean up.

Procter and Gamble CEO, David Taylor, who also serves as the Alliance chairman, stressed that plastic waste does not belong anywhere in the environment or in our oceans. He described the Alliance as “the most comprehensive effort to date to end plastic waste in the environment,” and urged “all companies, big and small and from all regions and sectors, to join us.”

The Alliance includes companies that make, use, sell, process, collect and recycle plastic. The Alliance will contribute over USD 1 billion in order to invest USD 1.5 billion over the next five years in support of this effort. In 2018, Procter and Gamble released its ‘Ambition 2030’ sustainability goals that aim to enable and inspire positive impact on the environment and society while creating value for Procter and Gamble as a company and for consumers. Ambition 2030 focuses on addressing finite resources and growing consumption through Procter and Gamble’s brands, supply chain and employees as well as society more broadly. As an example, the goals include ensuring that 90 percent of product packaging is recyclable and reducing absolute greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 30 percent.

Members of the Alliance include: 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 and Gamble, Reliance Industries, SABIC, Sasol, SUEZ, Shell, SCG Chemicals, Sumitomo Chemical, Total, Veolia and Versalis (Eni). Procter and Gamble owns the brands Gilette, Herbal Essences and Olay, among others. [Procter and Gamble Press Release] [Procter and Gamble Sustainability Webpage] [WBCSD Opinion Piece on Alliance] [Alliance to End Plastic Waste Press Release] [Alliance to End Plastic Waste Website]