1. Exploratory
“Recycled materials are becoming a standard requirement in many industries, with some companies declaring ambitious goals of 50-100% recycled material for all their products.”
The primary source addressed the correlation to plastic pollution caused by businesses, to harmful gas emissions. “Carbon Majors found that just 100 energy companies are responsible for 70% of global greenhouse gas emissions.”
“While informal waste pickers collect high-value recyclable materials such as PET plastic bottles, the non-recyclable low-value plastic from the same source isn’t being collected. This continues to pollute the oceans and impact coastal communities.”
“The lack of value due to market demand, creates a bigger problem with no one taking responsibility – this is often called 'orphan plastic'. Orphan-plastic is a major source of pollution. Not only is it unrecyclable, but it also often ends up in poorly managed landfills, is burnt, or abandoned in nature. This could lead to leakages of toxins that are dangerous to both humans and wildlife.”
Studies in another related source stated, “with production increasing at an exponential rate, plastic pollution has quickly become one of the most pressing environmental issues today. Production has increased from 2.3 million tons in 1950 to 448 million tons in 2015 with production expected to double by 2050.”
In addition, the source mentioned a “Plastic Free July is an initiative started by the Plastic Free Foundation with the goal of encouraging individuals to be conscious of their plastic use and work toward reducing or eliminating it all together.”
2. Diagnostic
Bigger businesses are more commonly responsible for the faster rates of plastic consumption and waste release. Plastic pollution leaks into oceans mostly because of this poor waste management and lack of recycling capabilities. It is also due to market structures and selective responsibility, hence the following solution of CSR where businesses take credibility for their actions and work to find solutions that will eliminate this issue.
3. Cause and Effect
A developing solution to mass plastic production and contribution to pollution provided by the source includes the discussion of ‘CSR’. “CSR is when a company goes beyond its policies and operating practices, on a voluntary basis, to take responsibility for their impact. A sound CSR program will ensure an environmental footprint that is as small as possible. It also ensures the ethical treatment of all people it affects” (World Economic Forum). It is a corporate relationship between businesses, and another way to go above and beyond establishing credibility and coming up with ways to fix the problem at hand. By doing this, “companies must reflect on everything from their supply chain and raw material sourcing to how their products are being disposed of. This requires constant attention and massive changes to current practices” (World Economic Forum).
In addition, the source introduced the safest way to get rid of plastic through TONTOTON’s certified plastic credit system. In which, “allows companies to take responsibility for the orphan plastics surrounding their products. While companies increase the amount of recycled plastic into their products, they can also take care of the non-recyclable plastics. Once the plastic is collected, we send the waste to be co-processed at cement factories. Using this process, the plastic is converted into energy and raw materials” (World Economic Forum).
4. Priority
The big issue being discussed is how businesses contribute to plastic pollution. “Companies have a major impact on the environment and should actively take part in achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)” (World Economic Forum). The issue of plastic pollution alone brings the question that is; who is responsible? Therefore, the source discusses this issue and why businesses are involved and what they have done/ are doing to reduce plastic pollution all together.
5. Application
As we have learned through previous lessons, there is so much plastic that we use throughout the day that it seems like it becomes second nature to us at some point without even realizing it. When documenting my plastic usage in a day from the previous lesson blog post, I didn’t realize just how many items I missed that contain some type of plastic material. Through that documentation, it makes you second guess yourself and question just how much of this plastic is even necessary to be constantly wasted. We don’t realize how much we contribute to plastic pollution and after the past few lessons, I started to realize how guilty I am of it as well. I have learned so much from this topic alone, and I will continue to educate myself on it and ways that I could help reduce the problem from getting worse in the future.
6. Critical
The article changed my perspective on what causes plastic pollution. It seems that the blame is always put on the public because it is easier to generally point the finger that way. And yes, though we do unfortunately contribute, I didn’t realize that businesses have a lot to do with this issue as well. Businesses have way more of an influence than we might think, and we just assume that their status exempts them from causing any type of effect within the environment, which is so far from the truth.
Sources:
Planet, For The. Businesses Fighting Plastic Pollution. onepercentfortheplanet.org/stories/businesses-fighting-plastic-pollution.
“---.” World Economic Forum, 14 June 2022, www.weforum.org/agenda/2022/06/impact-investing-the-broader-responsibility-of-businesses-in-achieving-sdgs.
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