Two major multinationals, IKEA and HP, have joined the NextWave Plastics consortium. This is a supply-chain of companies that together aim to reduce the plastic soup in the global oceans. Both parties plan to make new products from residual plastic.
With HP and IKEA joining, 10 companies are now active in the consortium. They aim to produce something new with the plastic before it enters the ocean.
Plastic from Haiti
Since announcing in September 2016 that it would join the First Mile Coalition to clean up plastic waste and create economic opportunities for the people of Haiti, HP and its partners have successfully built a fully functioning, plastic supply chain using bottles collected in Haiti. Today, the company announces that it has sourced 250 tonnes of plastics from Haiti and created more than 600 incomes for adults in the country. That's more than 12 million plastic bottles that did not enter the Caribbean Sea and are instead recycled and turned into original HP ink cartridges.
"While HP has already demonstrated its commitment to sustainable impact by removing ocean-bound plastics and reusing them in our products, we very much believe in the power of collaboration," said Stuart Pann, chief supply chain officer at HP. "We want to scale up our collective efforts among industry leaders, work together to address barriers and engage others in the quest for an ocean free of plastic. We are responsible for taking the necessary steps to reduce plastic pollution. Collaboration within and across industries is one of those critical steps."
Network
IKEA announced earlier this year that all non-recyclable plastic products will disappear from its shelves by 2020. It is one of the steps the housing giant is taking to be fully circular by 2030. "As part of this journey, IKEA is now joining NextWave; an initiative that connects leading technology and consumer companies, scientists and NGOs to use ocean plastic for consumer products and make it scalable as well," says Lena Pripp-Kovac, manager of sustainability at Inter IKEA Group. "The consequences of plastic pollution are serious and IKEA is determined to contribute to a solution in a positive and proactive way. Together with other NextWave companies, we will develop a global network of ocean-bound plastic supply chains, learn from each other's efforts and work together to ensure maximum business, community and environmental benefits. Our goal is to make ocean-bound plastic a consumer commodity for the future and we want to take initiatives to prevent plastic from ending up in the ocean in the first place. We hope this membership will lead to new lessons and new innovations, and that we can inspire other companies to follow."
HP and IKEA will join founding members Bureo, Dell Technologies, Herman Miller, Humanscale and Interface at the fifth annual Our Ocean Conference, on 29-30 October, in Bali, Indonesia. Thereafter, the companies can buy up plastic from countries such as the Philippines, Thailand and Indonesia to then repurpose it through a production chain to make their prpproducts. "As we become more concerned with the challenges facing our oceans, it becomes increasingly clear that the solution to marine-quality pollution requires innovation and open collaboration," said Kevin Brown, chief supply chain officer at Dell Technologies. "No company can solve this problem alone, which is why we are excited to welcome new members and encourage others to work together to advance NextWave's mission to prevent even more plastic from entering the ocean."
Source: NextWave/IKEA.
