Following strong votes last year, As You Sow is expanding engagement on plastics and petrochemicals for 2023. The plastic pollution crisis continues unabated, with 139 million tons of single-use plastic waste created in 2021, six million more tons than in 2019, according to a recent report by Minderoo Foundation. Optimism is rising for a global treaty on plastics within the next two years that could include potential curbs on plastic production after initial treaty negotiations in December 2022 in Uruguay.

We are pressing petrochemical companies on the risks of production overcapacity for polymers used for single-use plastic, the need to plan for cuts in demand for these materials and disclosure on responsibly switching operations from fossil-fuel based virgin polymer to recycled polymer production. We had impressive first year votes in 2022 at Phillips 66 (50.4 percent) and ExxonMobil (37 percent).

Nearly all plastics are derived from fossil-fuel based petrochemicals. Responsibility for the global plastic pollution crisis has focused to date largely on consumer goods companies’ use of non-recyclable and mismanaged single-use plastics. Yet, brands’ use of plastic has been enabled by artificially cheap resin prices driven by enormous subsidies to oil and gas companies. Unilever has stated that the “artificially low price of virgin plastics inhibits” the company’s ability to increase use of recycled content, “disrupting the business model to collect and process plastic and reducing our ability to innovate.”

Global community leaders agree that continued expansion of petrochemical plastic production is unsustainable, recycling improvements alone are inadequate and absolute demand reductions are critical. These conclusions are reflected in recent reports by the United Nations Environment Program, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development and the U.S. National Academy of Sciences. More important is that consumer brands themselves are asking petrochemical companies to reduce plastic production. The top priority should be “reduction of plastic production and use…focusing on virgin fossil fuel-based plastic,” stated the Business Coalition for a Global Plastics Treaty, which includes some of the world’s largest plastic users: Coca-Cola, Nestle, PepsiCo, Unilever, Walmart and even petrochemical company Borealis.

In general, petrochemical companies reject the idea that plastic demand will wane. They maintain that improved recycling will solve the waste problem. For 2023, we are again challenging ExxonMobil and Phillips 66 to study the impact of expected reduction of plastic demand on their business operations and added new filings with Chevron, Dow and Westlake (Westlake was filed in alliance with United Church Funds).

The Pew Charitable Trusts’ widely respected Breaking the Plastic Wave report found that ocean plastic pollution can be reduced 80 percent by 2040 and that the most significant action required is a one-third absolute demand reduction for single-use plastic. Our proposal asks companies to assess the impact of this scenario on their business. Companies also must transition away from fossil fuels and toward using post-consumer plastic waste as feedstock. However, there are numerous concerns with chemical recycling technologies being considered for this transition. Our proposal also asks for transparency around the safety and efficacy of these processes.

Conrad MacKerron
Sr. Vice President, As You Sow