Maria Burke
As an increasing number of businesses pledge to reduce plastic use, a new study casts doubt over how meaningful these commitments are (doi: 10.1016/j.oneear.2022.10.008).
The problem is that most companies focus on recycling rather than reducing virgin plastic, say the researchers.
The team, led by Zoie Taylor Diana at Duke University Marine Laboratory, US, considered 973 companies, including the top 300 of the Fortune Global 500, between 2015 and 2020. They found that 72% made some form of commitment(s) to reduce plastic pollution. Most companies target packaging and general plastics, and frequently emphasise recycling-related efforts. Many companies, such as the Coca-Cola Company, are producing lighter and smaller plastic products, so-called ‘lightweighting’. However, the researchers consider this ‘an insufficient response’ because companies may reinvest savings into markets that involve new plastic products. Because the number of plastic products increases each year, lightweighting does not result in a net reduction of plastic.
The authors say more efforts beyond plastic recycling are required to address plastic pollution challenges and stress the scientific community has an important role in monitoring companies and holding them accountable.
‘It is logical for businesses to start reducing plastic where it is easiest,’ says Bodo Lang of the University of Auckland Business School. ‘For example, increasing the recycled content of plastic and particularly reducing plastic in their products and packaging are obvious first steps to take. More powerful ideas to reduce plastic tend to be more difficult and/or more costly to implement. Truly game-changing ideas, such as transitioning from a linear economy to a circular economy, have much potential but are far more complex, costly and time intensive.’
Lang says businesses have begun the journey towards reducing plastic at the easiest points. Later, he predicts we will see an increasing shift towards initiatives such as maintaining products for longer and leasing rather than purchasing products.
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