Tackling Ocean Plastics

With around 8 million tonnes of plastic leaking into the oceans globally, concern over plastic products and packaging is no longer coming from a niche customer segment — retailers and brands are under pressure to act. The public outcry over ocean plastics has been unheralded, with many commentators citing the effect of David Attenborough’s Blue Planet II for visibly demonstrating the scale, impact and ugliness of the issue. Here is a pervasive, visible problem which connects directly with consumers each time they do their grocery shopping.

But plastics production is set to double in the next 20 years, and quadruple by 2050, so customer expectations are at odds with the sector’s growth forecast. How to square the circle of consumer concerns with the continued expansion in plastic production?

Missing the point

Many businesses want to act, to minimise the risk of their products contributing to the problem of ocean plastics. For many years, environmental concerns have been factored in by running comparative ‘life cycle assessments’ (LCAs) that weigh up one material or design option against another, and review the results for a range of environmental impacts. However, whilst there are LCA impact categories that cover marine toxicity, plastics — whether present as bottles, films, beads, or microplastics — are not accounted for. So, the very consequence consumers are most engaged about, is missing from the most common environmental analysis tool used by manufacturers.

Complete product journey

If ocean plastics are a priority, fully understand the risks your product presents. This means detailed knowledge of how it is used; where and how it may be disposed of; and if it does end up in the sea, how will it degrade? For most brand owners, the end of life of their products is outside of direct control, both in terms of where customers are located and because of the waste management infrastructure upon which they rely. Therefore to be effective requires concerted action at both ends of the product journey.

Action Points

1: Take a balanced approach

Plastics are a wonder-material, and highly effective in a variety of applications. There are many alternative materials for different applications, but these substitutes need to be assessed carefully as ‘burden shifting’ can occur such as deforestation to grow bio-based materials, or significantly higher carbon footprints. A balanced approach combines careful design for end-of-life, along with assessment of impacts occurring across the entire lifecycle.

2: Follow the waste hierarchy

“Reduce, reuse and recycle” still applies to reduce the ocean plastic risk and other impacts…less plastic, reusable business models and striving for recycled materials and recyclability at end of life.

3: Support the waste management industry

Businesses can’t go it alone. All manufacturers rely on the national (and sometime international) waste management infrastructure. Market leaders are engaged deeply, working with local government and waste managers to optimise the system and inform their investment strategy. For example, one simple step is to help close the loop by specifying and committing to recycled content, to create demand in the local network, and shore up the price of recyclate and economics of collection.

Author: Simon Miller, Founder at 3Keel

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