A multi-stakeholder initiative that aims to address plastic pollution worldwide has launched what it says is the first science-based methodology to map and measure plastic leakage across corporate value chains.
Launched in 2019 by Swiss consultancy Quantis and eco-design centre Shaping Environmental Action: EA, the Plastic Leak Project provides sustainability managers and corporate decision-makers with the framework for understanding where and how much leakage is occurring and lays a foundation for the creation of “impactful strategies and actions” that effectively address plastic pollution and mitigate key business risks.
Its Plastic Leak Project (PLP) Guidelines have been developed over the last 12 months with around 35 partners, including Adidas, Cotton Inc, The Woolmark Co., and Decathlon, and are designed to help companies minimise risk and build supply chain resilience, uncover opportunities for innovation, strengthen brand reputation, and foster trust and generate buy-in with stakeholders with credible communications about efforts, backed up by robust metrics.
“Consumers and investors expect businesses to take action and are willing to drop brands that fail to do so,” Quantis and EA explain. “In response, companies are making bold commitments to reduce plastic leakage. Current life cycle assessment, a key tool companies use to assess the environmental impacts of their products and business, doesn’t account for plastic as a pollutant, meaning businesses can’t identify when or where plastic leakage is occurring. As a result, many of the policies and efforts made to-date have been based on emotions and pressure rather than science.”
Quantis and EA say tackling plastic leakage requires businesses to go straight to the source. The PLP Guidelines make this possible by providing a framework for assessing the release and transfer of plastic into the natural environment.
“Companies can see where leakage is occurring across their global value chains, as well as quantify plastic loss and release rates. The plastic leakage metric provides companies with an estimate of plastic released into the environment (in terms of weight), such as oceans as well as other environmental systems, including freshwater, soils and other terrestrial environments.”
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By GlobalDataThe five-step method involves identifying plastic leakage hotspots across the supply chain, evaluating where the company stands on the issue of package leakage and how it compares to peers, defining a strategy underpinned by metrics, creating an action plan to reach targets, and communicating progress.
