The “Plastic Disclosure Project,” an initiative modeled on the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), will be formally launched in September this year to raise awareness about plastic waste and introduce the notion of “plastic footprints” to enable investors to better understand the liabilities and opportunities that plastic use may present to companies.
According to the New York Times, starting in early October, hundreds of companies and institutions around the world will receive a questionnaire asking them to assess and report their use of plastic: how much they use, what recycling processes they have, and what policies –if any– they have put in place to reduce their plastic consumption or to increase the proportion of recycled or biodegradable plastic within their organizations. “What we’re trying to do is to have companies manage and use plastic much more wisely, and to receive recognition for doing so from both customers and investors,” said project principal Doug Wooding.
Like the CDP, the Plastic Disclosure Project (PDP) is backed by investors. Based on a survey conducted by two MBA students at the Hong Kong University of Science in Technology on behalf of the PDP, managers with over US$5.8 trillion in assets under management have voiced their support for this initiative, with a 90% support rating from respondents.
For more information:
“Raising Awareness of Plastic Waste,” by Bettina Wassener, The New York Times (14 August 2011),
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/15/business/energy-environment/raising-awareness-of-plastic-waste.html
Plastic Disclosure Project: http://www.plasticdisclosure.org/
