By Don Moss and JD Allen, Colliers
Plastics have become a hot topic in recent years because there is increasing concern about the effects of plastics pollution. There is an estimated 400 million tons of plastic waste produced each year. The world is demanding a greener way of conducting business. The key issue is that nearly all the most essential things in life have some sort of plastic component. iPhones, trash bags, straws, pens, toothbrushes, and food containers are all products that people use daily that are made up of plastic. It will be difficult to pivot from something that has become routine for the world to a new routine where plastic becomes less relevant to human kind’s daily lives. To make the transition smoother, opportunities are emerging to provide plastic alternatives.
What Is Wrong With Plastics In The First Place?
People often ask why does the world need to change to a greener environment? The issue comes down to waste and biodegradability. The United Nations Environment Programme states on their website that “Plastic pollution is a global problem. Every year 19-23 million tonnes of plastic waste leaks into aquatic ecosystems, polluting lakes, rivers and seas.” This poses as a harmful threat to aquatic life as plastic virtually never truly decomposes. With waste being almost impossible to get rid of, it creates an issue for the living things around it. When plastic waste ends up in the oceans or lakes, the aquatic life will mistake it for food which is what is killing many species underwater.
Plastic is not just impacting the aquatic life, it is taking a toll on the birds as well. Oceana.org states, “On Australia’s remote Lord Howe Island, tens of thousands of fleshfooted shearwater parents feed their fluffball chicks fish – and plenty of plastic. Some years, up to 90 percent of chicks have at least one piece of plastic in their stomachs. Scientists discovered that chicks that eat even small amounts of plastic suffer health consequences. Just one scrap of shampoo bottle or balloon is enough to trigger elevated cholesterol levels and blood chemistry associated with impaired kidney function.”
Because animals from all parts of the world are being harmed from plastics, there is a direct impact to humans. Fish are ingesting plastics which is a direct correlation to the food chain. Humans are ingesting microplastics as they consume all types of seafood. As the cycle continues mankind is increasing their risk by continuing to use the plastics that have made their lives more convenient. While recycling is a good starting point, Oceana,org states “Of the over 8.3 billion metric tons of plastic that have been manufactured since 1950, only nine percent have been recycled, and only ten percent of recycled plastic gets recycled a second time.” When a menial amount of plastic is getting recycled in the first place, it gives reason as to why plastic alternatives are becoming a an important trend in today’s culture.
Who Is Taking On Plastic?
There are plenty of startups going around that are coming up with clothes, water bottles, soaps, and other products that people may view as sustainable. The fact of the matter is that while those companies are doing the right thing, the gamechangers are going to be the large corporations that already have a grip on the market. Liquid Death, for example, has started making an impact in the fight against plastic by only coming in aluminum containers as opposed to plastic bottles. The idea of “Liquid Death” is to put a death to plastic. With the rise of companies like Liquid Death, which can be found in stores all across the United States, larger companies can be inspired to do more in order to compete.
Recently, the Coca-Cola Co. announced that they would be ditching the green bottle that Sprite has been served in for decades. Becky Sullivan, with NPR, stated in July 2022, “Starting Aug. 1, the Coca-Cola Co., which produces Sprite, will package the lemon-lime drink in clear plastic bottles in North America, the company announced Wednesday… By bottling Sprite in clear plastic, Coca-Cola says, the bottles will be able to be recycled more times. One goal, the company says, is to increase the supply of recycled plastic that the company can then use to make future bottles.”
Becky Sullivan goes on to say, “Sprite’s green plastic bottles were already recyclable. But colored plastic bottles are typically separated from clear plastic bottles during the recycling process in order to keep the recycled plastic from becoming discolored, Coca-Cola said. The green Sprite bottles were more often recycled into things like clothes and carpeting, which are more difficult to recycle again.” The company itself is not changing anything except the color. What may seem like a very small change, is going to have a potential lasting impact on recycling plastics.
One of the companies that surprisingly is in hot water for their lack of effort on fighting plastic pollution is Starbucks. Cleanwater.org lays out the facts about Starbucks when they state, “Starbucks is the biggest coffee company in the world. The impact of its waste on our water, oceans, and health is dramatic. A decade ago the company committed to change. It pledged to introduce a fully recyclable cup by 2015 and to selling at least 25 percent of its drinks in reusable cups. To date Starbucks has yet to develop that recyclable cup and only 1.6 percent of drinks it sells are consumed in non-disposable cups or mugs. It is nowhere near the goals it set in 2008 yet it is urging a no vote no on a shareholder-led proposal asking the company to prepare a report on efforts to develop a comprehensive approach to sustainable packaging at the 2018 shareholder meeting in March.”
Starbucks had a goal to reach in 2015 and it is nearly a decade later with zero results. The same article states that only four cities accept their cups for recycling. So what could Starbucks do to make an impact? McDonald’s is already taking strides to fight plastic. The fast food giant is making efforts to make change with their plastic cups by providing cups that, Rick Linlge states, “…will comprise an equivalent of 50 percent post-consumer recycle (PCR) content and 50 percent biopolymer resins. The latter includes collecting and reusing the restaurant chain’s own cooking oil to create a closed-loop circular system. The chain refers to the dual blend as a “power couple” of sustainability”. The use of bioplastics is supposed to substitute existing plastics with something that looks and feels like what people are already used to. The difference between the two is the ability to biodegrade quicker with bioplastics in comparison to what is used on a daily basis.
A non-food and beverage company, Colgate-Palmolive, has announced to reduce plastic waste in their company by making all of their packing recyclable and reusable by 2025. Colgate-Palmolive announced on their website in 2022, “With PLOOF Ajax, which we’re testing in France, people buy one reusable spray bottle, fill it with water at home and plop in an effervescent tablet that transforms the liquid into an Ajax multipurpose cleaner. For more cleaner, buy more Ajax tablets, which are packed in paper sachets. No plastic packaging or shipping of heavy liquids required, reducing the overall carbon footprint.”
The idea is to have a “buy it once” strategy when purchasing their products, then refilling it later. Plastic is durable and cheap, but the harm it has created from Colgate-Palmolive’s products are putting humans at risk. It is not just spray bottles and dispensers, Colgate-Palmolive is aiming towards display trays, toothbrushes, and many other products. Brandy Bischoff, who writes for the Ocean Blue Project, touched on the impact on the tube dispensers when she wrote, “Colgate has been recognized in North America for crafting the first recyclable tube—but there is a lot more work left. The company now begins to prove the quality of their new tube to consumers who may be hesitant to try it for the first time. Colgate also needs to work with other producers across the globe to show the use of the new product and why it’s a good thing. They also have to grow support with recycling centers in local communities. By the year 2025, Colgate will transition 100% to recyclable tubing. When this happens, all of its products will be in recyclable packaging. This is a huge step toward reducing waste worldwide, and it’s the hope that other companies will follow suit.”
Colgate’s grip on the dental hygiene market should hopefully have such an impact so that their rivals keep up and follow suit. If competition starts winning because of the push to go green, it should not be a surprise to see other corporations in dental hygiene to begin taking steps to go green too. People are already relying more on the reusable electric toothbrushes and dentists are recommending them to their patients nationwide.
Going Forward And What Have Communities Done?
Small boutique startups are always going to be fighting plastic waste and pushing for a greener product, however, when large corporations take steps to fight plastic waste then that is when it starts to have the most impact. Colgate, McDonald’s, Starbucks, and Coca-Cola are some of the largest companies in the United States, but they are not going to be ending the plastic waste problem by themselves. It is through the examples set by these companies that will influence the smaller businesses and the larger businesses to reduce plastic waste in the world. People are going to be more drawn to spend money on products that are having an impact on the world as opposed to products that are only making the problems worse. It is about finding replacements to the plastics people have been using for years and making it an easy transition for people to make that switch. When the switch occurs, there will be a massive impact on reducing waste.
While companies make strides to reduce plastic waste in the corporate world, local cities and communities across the globe are doing their part to fight plastic. In August of 2023, Colombia, Jamaica, and Panama “… launched a $42-million project to jointly combat plastic pollution by mainstreaming circularity at city-level”, stated in an article written by the UN Environment Programme. The article goes on to say, “Led by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), with funding from the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and support from the Cartagena Convention Secretariat, the Reduce marine plastics and plastic pollution in Latin American and the Caribbean cites through a circular economy approach project will support Colombia, Jamaica and Panamá to adopt closed-loop policies at city-level, engage the private sector to do the same and create an inter-city network among Latin America and the Caribbean cities on marine plastics and plastic pollution more broadly, raising awareness on best practices.”
The idea is to push for change at a smaller scale in hopes that the overall larger communities and governments can make changes as well. The same article even mentions that this push by the three countries could create over 700,000 jobs by the year 2040. Not only does this help keep the oceans clean, but it helps economic growth.
In the United States, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), “…shared its National Recycling Strategy, with the goal to increase the recycling rate to 50 percent by 2030” as stated in an article written by Annie Greenberg for the Sustainable Ocean Alliance. According to the EPA’s website, it consists of three objectives; reduce pollution during plastic production, improve post-use materials management, and prevent trash and microplastics from entering waterways. From this, one can assume legislation is imperative to get this accomplished. Local municipalities must take after Colombia, Panama, and Jamaica’s strategy by finding ways to work together to fight plastic pollution. If these three countries can create 700,000 jobs in less than 20 years, then the impact the United States could have with the help of its allies and neighbors could be strongly impactful.
What Has Economic Development Done?
In April 2023, Encina announced its plans to open a $1.1 billion plastic recycling facility in Northumberland County in Pennsylvania by 2024. Ad Crable, who writes for Bay Journal explains, “Pennsylvania outcompeted other states to land what Houston-based Encina says will be the flagship for a global network of “advanced recycling” facilities. Over the course of a year, up to 450,000 tons of hard-to-recycle plastics—enough to fill an NFL stadium—would arrive via 80 truckloads a day from materials recovery facilities around the region. The items would include plastic bags, packaging, straws, ice cream and yogurt containers, potato chip bags and more.”
The idea would be to recycle these plastics and sell them to customers who need to make plastics for other products. This not only fights plastic pollution but it also creates massive job growth for the local community.
In July of 2023, NOVA Chemicals made a similar announcement when they said that they are expanding its footprint in Connersville, Indiana for a facility that NOVA Chemicals says, “…will process post-consumer plastic films to produce the company’s SYNDIGO™ recycled polyethylene (rPE) at commercial scale as early as 2025, delivering over 100 million pounds of rPE to the market by 2026. NOVA Chemicals plans to expand its recycling footprint over the next several years to help it reach its industry-leading 2030 ambition of 30 percent recycled content as a share of its total polyethylene sales.”
The plan is to not only have operations running in the near future, but to create around 125 jobs and become one of the largest employers in the area. The area was chosen because of its proximity to nearby metropolitan areas and access to rail service according to Nova Chemicals’ website. Finding ways to make an impact while recycling plastics, is key to fighting pollution and keeping communities happy.
According to a press release on ExxonMobil’s website, the company announced they would be putting one of the largest recycling facilities in North America in Baytown, Texas. The goal with this facility would be to process over 80 million pounds of plastic waste per year and to divert plastic waste that is being sent to landfills, according ExxonMobil. The company also says that they are in collaboration with companies such as Sealed Air, Berry Global, and Amcor. By finding ways to provide incentives in local communities and providing the ability to collaborate with large corporations, plastic waste can be reduced.
Local communities and municipalities are key in the fight against plastic pollution. The areas where there are large labor forces and near areas of strong growth should be targets for recycling facilities like the ones just mentioned. Fighting plastic waste is an easier fight when local economic development groups along with business leaders come together to find ways to make a difference. There are ways to make strides in the community by providing recycling facilities because of how many jobs these developments can create. It is important to consider the fight against plastic pollution the next time a growing area is looking to make an impact in the world.
Bios:
Don Moss specializes in industrial real estate, site selection, incentive negotiations and economic development consulting. A a combined total of 35 years of site selection, economic development, product development and brokerage experience, Don brings to Colliers International 20 years of brokerage experience, 15 years of local economic development experience and 6 years of development experience constructing industrial parks and buildings.
JD Allen specializes in industrial real estate in the Charlotte MSA market. Such specialties include: tenant representation, landlord representation, land sales, and investment sales. He focuses on prospecting, researching market conditions, and generating strategic and innovative plans to create the best leasing and sale opportunities for his clients. JD uses his market knowledge and transactional experience to help drive financial and operational success for his clients. Prior to Colliers, JD negotiated numerous development deals for industrial and retail clients.
