14 May 2019: The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) launched an “activation hub” to help companies and organizations translate commitments to reduce or eliminate plastic into measurable action. The hub is part of WWF’s global ‘No Plastic in Nature’ campaign, which tackles marine litter and plastic consumption as part of efforts to protect the world’s biodiversity and oceans.
According to WWF, “just 100 companies could prevent 10 million tons of plastic waste.” WWF observes that companies and organizations are committing to tackle plastic pollution but many lack a concrete way to implement their commitments. In a recent publication titled, ‘No Plastic in Nature: A Practical Guide for Business Engagement,’ WWF analyzed the causes and scope of the global plastic crisis, and outlined a guide for businesses to lead a “plastics revolution.” This guide provided the vision for designing the ‘ReSource: Plastic’ activation hub. ReSource aims to promote a systems-based approach to tackling plastic production, consumption, waste management and recycling as a single system.
ReSource is designed to identify the concrete changes that will make the biggest impacts in reducing a company’s plastic pollution footprint.
Through ReSource, WWF will help member companies to “maximize, measure and multiply their impact” on addressing the plastic pollution crisis. The initiative will identify interventions that will most effectively reduce plastic and plastic waste across companies’ plastic footprint and then provide companies with expertise and tools to help implement those interventions. ReSource will also support participating organizations to measure, track and report on progress on the amount of plastic waste prevented. The hub also connects businesses with other stakeholders to share best practices, help improve the speed and scale of efforts to tackle plastic and stimulate additional investments to multiply the impact of efforts to reduce plastic pollution. WWF Chief Conservation Officer, Nik Sekhran, explained that ReSource is designed “to identify the concrete changes that will make the biggest impacts in reducing a company’s plastic pollution footprint.”
Six companies have signed on to ReSource as Principal Members: The Coca-Cola Company; Keurig Dr Pepper; McDonald’s; Procter & Gamble; Starbucks; and Tetra Pak. Procter & Gamble’s Chief Sustainability Officer, Virginie Helias, welcomed ReSource’s systems approach, including the common metrics, accountability and best practices, saying such a partnership across stakeholders “is much needed to accelerate progress on long-term solutions.” Several Principal Members said they look forward to collaborating through ReSource to find scalable, impactful solutions.
Ellen MacArthur Foundation and Ocean Conservancy joined ReSource as Thought Partners. The Ellen MacArthur Foundation will work with WWF to ensure that ReSource aligns with a circular economy for plastics and to provide participating organizations with the tools needed to achieve targets. Ocean Conservancy will provide ocean expertise. [WWF Press Release] [ReSource Plastic Website] [SDG Knowledge Hub Story on ‘No Plastic in Nature’ Report]