Jordy Zuniga
ENG-095-111C – Robert Whitman
Sustainable Production and Consumption: The Plastic Industry
Our planet is going through the critical crises of climate change, biodiversity loss,
plastic pollution and waste. The problems we used to overlook since they were, for
many, supposedly “far away” from being a “real” issue are now here, more than ever.
However, it’s nothing that us, as a society, can’t still change and stop from growing
even more. The key to overcome these environmental global-concerning issues is by
“achieving sustainable patterns of consumption and production” which requires a
“fundamental transformation in our economies and societies” (One Planet Network).
This is no easy task since in our society, those who have power are those who (in
majority) at certain extent control the economy specifically the financially strong-armed
corporations. These companies don’t seem to care much about how their production
activities (resource extraction and manufacturing) affect our environment, they just
want to maximize their profits by any means. Cash, cash and more cash. A clear
example, the Plastic Industry.
Plastic businesses contribute negatively to global warming and produce insane amounts
of plastic waste that constantly damage the environment in a daily basis. Those who
own and are in control of the different companies in this industry are blinded by their
ambition, but those who fund the plastic production contribute even more to the
problem. According to a report from the Minderoo Foundation, funding for single-use
plastic production comes from “major banks and from institutional asset managers”
(Minderoo Foundation, 2021) where the top three lenders to single-use plastic projects
are: Barclays, HSBC, and Bank of America.
Jordy Zuniga
ENG-095-111C – Robert Whitman
We need to change their corporate minds into seeking for ecofriendly alternatives that
don’t impact in such way to our planet even if it compromises their future earnings
because would all that money even be useful if they don’t invest it in moving towards a
sustainable world? I mean where would they spend this money if there wouldn’t be a
planet to live in? What would happen to the future generations? Therefore, we must act
correctly in order to protect and preserve the planet, we all live in. For ourselves and for
those who are our successors. An immediate action must be taken.
Single-use over reusable plastics is the main issue in the plastic industry since
approximately a 98% of the plastic they produce come from fossil fuels which means
that when extracting resources and manufacturing plastic, the environment is heavily
impacted by the greenhouse gas emissions produced by this type of activities (UNEP,
2019). The issue is that government policies tend to focus on those companies that sell
finished plastic products when actually the root of the problem is in those “smaller
businesses at the base of the supply chain that produce ‘Polymers’ (the building blocks
of all plastics) which are almost exclusively from fossil fuels.” (Minderoo Foundation,
2021). ExxonMobil, Dow and Sinopec, by theirselves together, account for about 16%
of the global plastic which represent millions of tons of plastic that was used once then
thrown away.
Millions of data and statistics can be found online about how serious the global situation
is. We must find out what’s stopping us from making the transition from single-use to
recycling, for environmental purposes and for our own sake! Plastic manufacturers are
failing to make this transition into a circular economy by implanting the recycling
system because of their lack of leadership, consciousness and efficiency to address the
Jordy Zuniga
ENG-095-111C – Robert Whitman
plastic pollution issue. A Bain & Company research on corporate transformation
programs shows only 2% of corporations achieve or exceed their sustainability goals, an
extremely concerning statistic and a wakeup call to global corporations.
Therefore, companies must start looking for solutions in order to shift towards an
ecofriendly economy because statistics show they are not being successful with their
sustainability strategies. According to EHS Today’s article, 6 fundamental pillars plastic
businesses must implement in order to achieve the rightful addressing of the waste crisis
are: “packaging design, reusable packaging, recycled content, data disclosure, voluntary
support for improving recycling systems, and mandated financial responsibility” (EHS
Today, 2020).
The path to sustainable consumption and production lies on the efforts put by every
single individual and organization in each area of our society: finance, politics, science,
etc. A study lead by Southern Cross University shows that about 77% of people want to
learn more about living more sustainably (Forbes, 2019). It’s not about people not
willing to make a change, it’s about those who govern the society in putting the enough
effort and support in order to achieve a sustainable way of consuming and producing. A
shift towards sustainability means working in a unionized manner, being completely
honest and conscious of the situation, being more empathetic and act with full
disclosure in a way that our environment is protected and preserved Each one of us is
carrying the weight of a great responsibility but together we can come up with the right
solutions in order to combat these global environmental issues. Having clear goals is
fundamental to know what are we working towards to and how urgent it is.
Jordy Zuniga
ENG-095-111C – Robert Whitman
Plastic in our oceans, increasing temperature of our planet, loss of biodiversity, each
one of these represent how fast action must be taken in place, it won’t be easy but it sure
is possible, by any means.
Jordy Zuniga
ENG-095-111C – Robert Whitman
Bibliographic References
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Blanchard , Dave, et al. “Companies Are Failing to Address Plastic Pollution
Crisis ...” Companies Are Failing to Address Plastic Pollution Crisis, EHS
Today, 2 July 2020,
https://www.ehstoday.com/environment/article/21135704/companies-arefailing-to-address-plastic-pollution-crisis.
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Davis-Peccoud, Jenny, et al. “Achieving Breakthrough Results in
Sustainability.” Bain, Bain & Company, 14 Aug. 2018,
https://www.bain.com/insights/achieving-breakthrough-results-in-sustainability
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Charles, Dominic, et al. “Executive Summary: Plastic Waste Makers Index: The
Minderoo Foundation.” Plastic Waste Makers Index | The Minderoo
Foundation, Minderoo Foundation, 2020, https://www.minderoo.org/plasticwaste-makers-index/findings/executive-summary/
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Ellsmoor, James. “77% Of People Want to Learn How to Live More
Sustainably.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 10 Dec. 2021,
https://www.forbes.com/sites/jamesellsmoor/2019/07/23/77-of-people-want-tolearn-how-to-live-more-sustainably/?sh=7d4cf7242b01
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“Reuse vs Single-Use: Environment - Upstream: Sparking Innovative Solutions
to Plastic Pollution.” Upstream, https://upstreamsolutions.org/reuse-vs-singleuse-environment.
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“Sustainable Consumption and Production.” One Planet Network,
https://www.oneplanetnetwork.org/SDG-12/sustainable-consumption-andproduction.
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“Visual Feature: Beat Plastic Pollution.” UNEP, 2019,
https://www.unep.org/interactives/beat-plastic-pollution/.