ESG
“ Mix and match the size of the quote . Keep the style consistent within the same article ”
NAME SURNAME JOB TITLE , COMPANY NAME
“ You either get on board with the Renaissance , or you get out of the way ”
DAVID KATZ CEO AND FOUNDER , PLASTIC BANK
It ' s an ‘ us ’ problem . It ' s the way we view the material that has received us here , to look at it as free or disposable or worthless when it ' s not . And I ' d argue that when you buy a bottle of water , the highest cost of goods in that product is the bottle . But yet , we discard it . So how do we shift the paradigm to have that material look like it is truly valuable ?”
“ In the Western world , the economics are not working , so it ' s not being recycled . It ' s not because the material is not recyclable . Economic equation is paralysis . Chemical , [ mechanical ] recycling , all the technology we need to fix all of this is available today . Companies will succeed by investing in what will be and not what is ; if you overinvest in what is , you ' re doomed .”
Katz isn ’ t wrong . Investment in recycling infrastructure is exactly what is needed as existing global supply chains are equipped to produce and use virgin plastic , but not so much to take it back . In fact , since 1950 , only about 9 % has been recycled and returned back into the economy .
The mentioned study calculates that the equivalent of $ 426 billion- $ 544 billion in net present value ( NPV ) needs to be invested over the next 20 years to achieve the projected plastics circularity gap reductions . For the time being , however , personal experience has shown me all too well that economics are most certainly getting in the way of increasing the use of recycled content . As much as end-users have begun vocalising their want and willingness to pay for more sustainable options , not everyone is on board if the math doesn ’ t add up , which it often doesn ’ t .
Depending on where the markets are , there is little to no price disparity between
114 September 2021