plastic pollution
Plastic poses risks to human and environmental health at every stage of its life: production, use, and disposal.[1]
The mismanagement of plastic waste is the result of overproduction and the flawed and historic linear management of plastic – take carbon feedstocks by extracting coal, oil, and gas from the environment, make a plastic product, and then dispose of the good after its initial useful life. As You Sow is working to reduce the use of plastic, and turn this linear plastics economy into a circular economy . A circular economy for plastics is a model where plastics remain in circulation longer, are reused, are recycled at the end of their life span, and kept out of the environment.
In the absence of a circular economy for plastics, flows of plastic waste into the ocean are expected to nearly triple by 2040, from approximately 11 million metric tons per year in 2016 to approximately 29 million metric tons.[2]
As You Sow is working with companies to
REDUCE
REDESIGN
& REIMAGINE
plastic packaging to design a circular economy for plastics.
Some of our recent work is highlighted below.
| Company | Area | Action | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Extended Producer Responsibility | In response to our shareholder resolution, Hormel committed to new packaging circularity actions, including launching an industry working group to advance policy and producing a report detailing future opportunities for action at the company. | 2024 |
|
Reusable Packaging | Following the support of 41% of it’s investors, McDonald’s acted on our shareholder resolution by pledging to produce the sector’s first comprehensive report evaluating opportunities for reusable packaging. Yum! Brands later committed to produce a similar report and we withdrew our 2024 resolution at the company. | 2024 |
 |
Plastic Reduction | After three years of strong shareholder votes on our proposals to reduce plastic, Amazon pledged to phase out plastic mailers all together while also demonstrating – for the first time – a reduction in plastic use. | 2023 |
|
Extended Producer Responsibility | In a first-year proposal, a robust 25.3% of shareholders (29.6% of independent shareholders) support Constellation Brands releasing a new report on opportunities to improve packaging circularity, including through financial support for recycling | 2023 |
|
Reusable Packaging | In response to our shareholder resolution, Coca-Cola announced the industry’s largest goal for reusable packaging, pledging to provide 25% in reusables or refillables by 2030. | 2022 |
|
Reusable Packaging | In response to our shareholder resolution, Pepsi Co announced a new reusable packaging goal, pledging to distribute 20% of beverages in reusables by 2030. | 2022 |
|
Plastic Reduction | As a direct result of our engagement – either through dialogue or resolutions – nine companies have announced new goals to reduce use of plastic packaging:
|
2018 -2022 |
|
Plastic Reduction | Following our engagement, McDonald’s and Dunkin’ Donuts agreed to phase out use of Styrofoam cups, a highly polluting material that cannot be recycled. | 2018 |
As You Sow’s engagements have resulted in historic commitments by leading consumer goods brands and retailers. These agreements are expected to result in the reduction of more than 1 million metric tons of virgin plastic packaging.
1 Million Tons Of Reduction Commitments
AREAS FOR CORPORATE ACTION ON PLASTIC POLLUTION
Our work is guided by our 2024 Plastic Promises Scorecard ranking 225 major consumer goods companies on their ambition and action in all six pillars: recyclability, reduction, recycled content, recovery, reuse, and extended producer responsibility.
PLASTIC SOLUTIONS INVESTOR ALLIANCE
As You Sow founded and manages an international coalition of investors to engage publicly traded consumer goods companies on the threat posed by plastic waste and pollution, the Plastic Solutions Investor Alliance (PSIA). More than fifty institutional investors from four countries with a combined $2.6 trillion of assets under management have signed a declaration on plastic pollution citing plastic pollution as a clear corporate brand risk and pledging to interact with leading companies to find solutions through new corporate commitments, programs, and policies. Our core engagements are with five large consumer goods companies: Coca-Cola Company, Nestle, Procter & Gamble, PepsiCo and Unilever.
ENDNOTES
[1] https://www.minderoo.org/no-plastic-waste/minderoo-monaco-commission/
[2] https://www.pewtrusts.org/-/media/assets/2020/07/breakingtheplasticwave_report.pdf
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