Initiative Asks Companies To Assess Their ‘Plastic Footprint’

An international initiative this fall will encourage hundreds of organizations to assess their use and recycling of plastics in a push to call more attention to the vast amounts of plastic waste entering the environment. While many companies and organizations are familiar with their “carbon footprint” and are taking steps to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions, the founders of the Plastic Disclosure Project say there is less awareness of just how many non-biodegradable plastics in the global supply chain end up in the planet’s ecosystems. According to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), only about 10 percent of the roughly 300 million tons of plastic produced each year is recycled, and about 7 million tons end up in the world’s oceans. The new plastics project, created during last year’s Clinton Global Initiative, will send annual surveys to participating organizations to assess their use of plastics and their recycling programs. “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,” Doug Woodring, a Hong Kong-based entrepreneur and one of the project’s leaders, told the New York Times.