Powering Through September

Dear Readers,

September has been a particularly intense month for global efforts to address the plastic waste challenge. In so many countries, boardrooms and communities, decisions are being made that are propelling the movement forward. I’d like to share just a couple with you this month. ?

The first milestone of a unique collaboration has been reached just weeks ago. Our partner Lombard Odier Investment Managers has announced the successful first closing of the Plastic Circularity Fund. This Fund identifies investible opportunities across the plastics value chain and includes collection, technology-enabled sorting and recycling infrastructure, and design solutions for improved plastic durability, reuse, and recyclability.

It draws on private equity capital from institutional and other accredited investors who want to fund ways to remove plastic waste from the environment and turn it into resources while ensuring market returns. The Alliance is a seed investor with a US$10 million capital contribution and a technical advisor to the Fund, deploying a team of experienced professionals who provide industry-led expert advice on the technical feasibility, commercial viability, and scalability of solutions.

Initial investors included member companies Dow and LyondellBasell Industries, with commitments from other corporates, pension funds and interest from institutional investors across Australia, Japan and Europe.

Although a niche investment strategy, the first-of-its-kind fund is gaining traction quickly. The clear focus on plastic circularity and the participation of industry and the Alliance help to de-risk solutions.?For more information about the Fund, click here.

From this vantage point, I want to share an update about the wealth of investment opportunities that Japan’s efforts hold.

At the recent New Pathways for Plastic Circularity Summit in Tokyo, I engaged with an audience of more than 230 Japanese and international executives. They were there to hear the country’s strategy – as described by Japanese Government representatives, key players in the plastics industry, and start-ups – for developing a circular plastics economy.

There was unanimous agreement that what is required is collective intelligence, commitment and action between policymakers, investors, innovators and businesses, as no one party can do this alone. Member companies Kirin Holdings, Mitsubishi Chemical, Mitsui Chemicals, Sumitomo Chemicals, Inabata&Co, and project partners Kaman and Recotech shared their hard-won insights about how to make this happen.

I had the opportunity to share some Alliance case studies from Japan and Southeast Asia to make the case that this work yields results. Find out more about our Japan projects, click here.

Much of what I shared can also be found in our Progress Report, and for our Japanese-speaking members and partners, the Japanese language edition can be found here.

Still on Japan. Although the country has a well-managed national waste collection system, only 22% of plastic waste is recycled, either domestically or elsewhere. Most of it is incinerated or sent to thermal recovery systems. Now that the country is moving toward increasing the recycling of plastic waste, we at the Alliance aim to develop a programme to collect, sort and recycle plastic waste in selected Japanese cities in collaboration with national and local governments, member companies and strategic allies. The programme must mobilise capital and develop investment-ready projects.

This is one of my favourite projects to share, because it’s about recognising the importance of work done by those most often overlooked in society: waste collectors. In Johannesburg, South Africa, they are the men and women who start their long workdays to work at subsistence levels, struggling to collect recyclable materials, without the space and equipment to be efficient, and without water, electricity and adequate health and safety equipment. Facing social stigma, they remove tonnes of waste from the city streets and keep it from the environment and landfills, yet they are themselves, all but invisible.

These workers called the Reclaimers, organised themselves in 2016 when the African Reclaimers Organisation (ARO) was formed. They represent some 6,000 reclaimers, provide facilities to sort and sell recyclables, and work for fair compensation and recognition.

In October 2022, the Alliance added its support, with a warehouse to be used as a sorting centre. Reclaimers can now work more efficiently and safely, and more waste can be sorted, compacted and organised for sale. Nine months after our collaboration began, ARO had diverted more than 600 tonnes of plastic waste from landfills, and 4,000 people had gained access to new or improved waste management services. This project can be scaled for the entire city and possibly the country. And most importantly, the reclaimers have a sense of dignity and feel respected for their role. For more information about our work with ARO, click here.

As always, it is a joy to share these updates with you, knowing that in some way, they will inspire and energise you in your own efforts to end plastic waste.

Enjoy the reading,

Jacob

President & CEO