Plastic Pollution: Costs, Risks, and Impacts

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The chapter explores the societal and environmental costs of plastic pollution, emphasizing the unsustainable nature of the situation and the potential future impacts on the industry. It discusses the risks faced by companies in the plastics value chain, including regulatory and litigation risks, and the impact of plastic pollution on marine life, biodiversity, and climate change. The discussion underscores the need for comprehensive reporting of supply chain emissions, the evolving policy landscape around plastics, and the importance of reducing plastic usage to lower emissions and consider alternatives comprehensively.

Ahead of Earth Day on April 22, we’re launching a miniseries of the ESG Insider podcast looking at plastic. We’ll explore how plastic impacts human health and the environment, how companies and investors are approaching the topic, and what to expect from international plastic treaty negotiations starting April 23.

In today's episode, we hear about the health and environmental impacts of plastics from Dr. Philip Landrigan, Director of the Program for Global Public Health and the Common Good at Boston College. He was lead author of a major scientific study the Minderoo-Monaco Commission on Plastics and Human Health published in 2023.

We hear why recycling is only part of the solution to plastic pollution in an interview with Richard Wielechowski, Senior Investment Analyst in the Textiles Programme at Planet Tracker, a nonprofit think tank focused on sustainable finance.

And we hear how plastics are affecting oceans and contributing to climate change from Aarthi Ananthanarayanan, Director of the Climate and Plastics Initiative at Ocean Conservancy, an environmental advocacy group based in Washington, D.C. She calls for a broad rethink of the approach to the plastic challenge.

"We have to see it as an opportunity. We've done a lot of that work in the climate space already, but we haven't included plastics in the conversation yet," Aarthi says. "When we can break our minds out of the idea that we're on this inevitable trajectory with plastics, and instead we're planning for a future where what's good for investors is also good for our climate and our health and our ocean — there's a different range of goals and commitments you make, there's a different type of innovation that you have to be thinking about."

Listen to our second episode in this series titled "What's at stake in UN plastic pollution treaty talks" here: https://www.spglobal.com/esg/podcasts/what-s-at-stake-in-un-plastic-pollution-treaty-talks

Listen to our third episode in this miniseries titled “What companies are doing to address the plastic pollution problem" here: https://www.spglobal.com/esg/podcasts/what-companies-are-doing-to-address-the-plastic-pollution-problem

This piece was published by S&P Global Sustainable1, a part of S&P Global.

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