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The Transition | February 2023
People and progress in solving the ocean plastic crisis

About OpenOceans Global. Our work centers on mapping ocean plastic, curating the best solutions, and linking together a community of ocean plastic experts and leaders. Learn more on NBC7/39's Down to Earth segment and ArcNews. Past issues of The Transition.

Did you know?

Only one of 50 of North America’s largest corporations received a ranking better than C for plastic packaging practices.

Taking a Deeper Dive

Corporate Plastic Pollution Scorecard provides an in-depth review of the plastic packaging practices

As You Sow’s biannual Corporate Plastic Pollution Scorecard provides an in-depth and meaningful review of the plastic packaging practices of 50 of the largest consumer-facing and publicly traded corporations with operations in North America. The NGO worked with industry leaders to establish 44 metrics across six pillars of corporate responsibility on plastic packaging.

Packaging Design – Use less plastic and use it better.
Reusable Packaging – Disrupt the traditional take-make-waste model.
Recycled Content – Close the loop on recycling.
Public Data Transparency – Facilitate external analysis and industry goal setting.
Supporting Recycling – Fund enough infrastructure to capture all packaging that is produced.
Extended Producer Responsibility – Acknowledge responsibility for the plastic pollution crisis and finance effective solutions.

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Each of the six categories (pillars) included positive trends, corporate leaders in the category, and recommendations for improvement. Because only one company, Coca-Cola, received the top grade of B, As You Sow says that “companies can, and should, be doing much more to stave off the immense predictions of ocean plastic deposition and corporate financial repercussions.”

There were notable improvements, including a ninefold increase in plastic reduction goals and a nearly fourfold increase in support for extended producer responsibility. However, there were more areas of concern than improvement:

The improvements represent less than 1/3 of the 50 companies included in the report.
Only six companies have reuse-specific goals, a key part of transitioning to a circular economy.
Only one company, Coca-Cola, is publicly reporting the units of plastic packaging sold.
Only 5% of the funds necessary to expand and update U.S. recycling infrastructure has been secured.
Zero companies are currently donating their fair share of funding to support recycling infrastructure.

Positive Trends

Positive trends of companies analyzed in the report include:

29 companies have set goals for 100% of their packaging to be recyclable, compostable, or reusable.
31 have completed or will complete an assessment of their packaging to indicate opportunities for reuse. Of these, 30 have active pilot projects to trial new technology and gauge consumer reaction.
23 have set targets to increase the use of post-consumer or pre-consumer recycled content in plastics, five more than in the 2020 report.
22 of the 23 companies with goals to increase the amount of recycled content in plastic packaging include a stipulation that their recycled content will be post-consumer, not pre-consumer – scrap material from the manufacturing process that never reaches the end-user.
12 with recycled content goals currently use at least 5% recycled plastic content.
24 currently report annual plastic packaging tonnage or volume, allowing investors to better understand plastics exposure and also track progress on commitments to reduce plastic use, up from 11 in 2020.
24 companies annually report their plastic recycled content, up from 12.
32 participate in or finance research activities to improve U.S. recycling infrastructure, up from 15.
29 make some donations to support U.S. recycling infrastructure, up from 19. However, these contributions are paltry when compared with the $17 billion that is needed to actually facilitate recycling at scale.
11 now publicly support Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR), up from just three a year ago.

Large companies receiving a grade of D or F

According to How You Sow’s report, the largest companies by revenue that received a D or F grade included: Amazon, Costco, Walgreens, The Kroger Company, Proctor & Gamble, and Kraft Heinz. These firms were largely downgraded because they lacked goals for cuts in plastic use, cuts in virgin plastic use, increase in recycled plastic content, increase in the use of reusable packaging, limited public data transparency, and/or lack of support for recycling.

The report includes comprehensive appendices with recommendations, individual company grades by category, and a description of the grading methodology. Image credits: As You Sow

About As You Sow

As You Sow harnesses shareholder power to create lasting change and has a mission to promote environmental and social corporate responsibility through shareholder advocacy, coalition building, and innovative legal strategies. The organization’s vision is a safe, just, and sustainable world in which protecting the environment and human rights is central to corporate decision-making. The NGO believes corporations are responsible for most of the pressing social and environmental problems we face today and must be a willing part of the solutions.

Corporate Plastic Pollution Scorecard (full report)

Tracking Plastic News

Biodegradable Plastics May End Up Doing More Harm Than Good, Bloomberg, January 30, 2023
Alaska Airlines Ditches Plastic Cups in Broader Push to Curb Plastic Waste, Triple Pundit, January 30, 2023
Where stakeholders align prior to INC-2, Ocean Plastics Leadership, February 2, 2023
Plastic debris in the Arctic comes from all around the world, Phys.org, February 7, 2023
Guess what, more plastic trash, New York Times, February 7, 2023
'Plastics are really driving our climate crisis': Report reveals plastic waste is at global high, KCRA, February 8, 2023
UN and Ocean Cleanup Sign MOU, Plastic News, February 13, 2023

Mapping Plastic-Fouled Coastlines

See more beaches fouled by plastic on our ocean plastic trash map. To report a shoreline pervasively fouled by significant amounts of plastic debris, use our online plastic trash reporting app.

This Month's Coastal Hotspot: Tumaco, Columbia

On the southern Colombian coast, there are many beaches with heavy pollution and garbage buildup. The power the government has over the region is limited because the area is controlled by residual FARC groups, groups seeking to control the drug trade. The source of the plastic is a combination of local litter, runoff from streets, fishing gear, and other debris from the deep ocean. Beach cleanups are being done, but because the area is not controlled by the government, the Navy has done cleanups in the past. Trash bins have been made available but are often stolen. During the pandemic, the beaches were restored, but when restrictions were lifted and tourists returned, the beaches were fouled again, according to local reports. Image credit: Noticias TubarCo

Solutions to the Ocean Plastic Crisis

See more solutions on our ocean plastic solutions page. Have a solution we should know about? Submit it here.

This Month's Featured Solution: Sungai Watch

Ocean plastic pollution solutions don’t have to be complicated. Some of the most impactful and innovative solutions have humble beginnings. In Indonesia, siblings Gary, Kelly, and Sam Bencheghib, who grew up in Bali, started Sungai Watch, a grassroots effort enlisting a team of 100 passionate river warriors who install simple trash barriers in the rivers of Bali. Sungai Watch hires local workers to clean up each barrier daily. By designing simple trash barriers and operating a collection, sorting, and up-cycling system, they have created a scalable approach to tackling plastic pollution. Over the past year, they have been testing, designing, and deploying more than 174 barriers and collected more than 780,000 kilograms of plastic. They are now on a mission to place trash barriers in every river in Indonesia by 2025 and eventually the world. Sungai Watch believes the barriers are an effective tool to get communities and governments involved in cleaning waterways. Through these barriers, they can understand better what is polluting their rivers and how they can improve their actions on land. Equally important, Sungai Watch educates the local community via social media videos showing people that simple changes can change their world. Image credit: Sungai Watch

Meet the Experts and Leaders

OpenOceans Global is identifying ocean plastic experts from around the world. Here are two experts leading efforts to reduce plastic pollution that you should know about.

Boyan Slat, founder and CEO, The Ocean Cleanup

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After seeing more plastic bags than fish while he was scuba diving in Greece, 16-year-old Boyan Slat dedicated a school project to possible technology solutions to clean up ocean plastic pollution. He presented his ideas at a TEDx Conference in late 2012. In February 2013, the TEDx video was picked up by various news blogs – causing the idea to go viral. This allowed Slat to launch a crowdfunding campaign for a feasibility study, resulting in The Ocean Cleanup, a non-profit developing technology to rid the world’s oceans of plastic. Slat has devised scalable cleanup technology that targets plastic hotspots, with a goal of removing 90% of floating ocean plastic by 2040. Recognizing that rivers are the primary mechanism by which plastic reaches the ocean, Slat has also developed and placed river Interceptor Solutions in some of the world’s most polluting rivers. Rotterdam-based The Ocean Cleanup has over 120 employees from more than 30 countries. Slat continues to be deeply involved in the organization’s scientific and technological work, through which he has co-authored around a dozen scientific papers and secured multiple patents. The organization tracks its progress through an Impact Dashboard. He has received Norway's maritime industry's Young Entrepreneur Award, been included on Foreign Policy’s list of Global Thinkers, listed as one of Forbes 30 under 30, and named by Reader’s Digest as the European of the Year. Slat is a member of the Thiel Fellowship. The Ocean Cleanup has been awarded one of the Designs of the Year by the London Design Museum, Fast Company’s Innovation by Design award, and TIME magazine’s 25 best inventions of 2015. Image Credit: The Ocean Cleanup

Kelly McBee, Circular Economy Senior Coordinator, As You Sow

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As the Circular Economy Program Senior Coordinator for As You Sow, Kelly works with companies to improve their circular economy operations, including limiting natural resource extraction and supporting robust repair, reuse, and recycling programs. Kelly specializes in sustainable consumer goods packaging, plastic pollution prevention, nurdles, and electronic waste. Kelly is the author of As You Sow’s biannual Corporate Plastic Pollution Scorecard and leads research efforts on As You Sow's other periodic publications evaluating corporate progress towards a circular economy, including Waste & Opportunity 2020: Searching for Corporate Leadership. Additionally, Kelly manages As You Sow’s Plastic Solutions Investor Alliance, an international coalition of 50 institutional investors with more than $2.5 trillion in combined assets, working to engage publicly traded consumer goods companies about the threats posed by plastic pollution and waste. Prior to joining As You Sow, Kelly was a legislative analyst and advocate for Californians Against Waste, working to pass circular economy policies for the state of California. Prior to that, she was a legislative analyst for the Association of California Water Agencies, a Zero Waste intern for Davis Farmers Market, and a press intern for California Assembly Speaker Toni Atkins. Kelly received her BA from the University of California at Davis, where she studied global and environmental health. Image credit: Romero Creative Studio