Breaking Free from Single-Use Plastics | DAVOS 2020

Good morning here from devils and welcome to those of you joining us on Bloomberg quick-take Twitter now or something today is one of enormous scale but microscopic complexity. The question is simple enough. How can we break free from single-use Plastics now, we will be conducting a poll today which all of you here in the room can actually participate throughout the session if you would like to vote it's very simple you go online and this is what you do w e s. C h hashtag votar pole there to today and we'll get through it in the session. How often do you use

single plastic or a single-use packaging items such as plastic bottles coffee cups food containers. And the second question is How likely are you to make changes in your consumption habits or in the way your business and organization operates. Let's now get to the people really you want to hear from joining us here by by plastic bags. Plastic bags straws and styrofoam on her whole island of Bali as of last year. He is a chief executive of Dory Holdings the world's

third-biggest whiskey maker. He intends to replace all plastic bottle materials and wrist with recycled and plant-derived material by 2030. She's a chair of the board of directors at zero waste a nonprofit face in the town of coming katsu and Al Gore served as Vice President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He serves as trim and co-founder of sustainable investment for Generation best Management on Francine lacqua anchor for Bloomberg TV and radio from single-use Plastics what happens if we don't

have the first of all thank you friend seeing and it's an honor to be a part of this panel and I look forward to it to learning from my fellow panelist here. We have to break this habit that has been growing. We've doubled the use of Plastics in the world in the last 20 years and we're poised to double it again in the next 15 to 20 years recently. There was an expedition to the deepest part of the ocean the Marianas Trench and at the bottom of the deepest part of the ocean, they

collected these extraordinary and unusual life forms that have adapted to live there and inside them they found plastic. It's everywhere now. And as one of the graphics in your Bloomin arse video showed and Minnie are for me with this statistic at current rates by 2050 the weight of the plastic in the ocean will exceed the weight of all the fish in the oceans and it's entering the food chain with unknown Health consequences. So what can we do? Well a price on carbon which is proposed

solution number 1 for the climate crisis, even though very difficult to an actin so many jurisdictions would also cut down on Plastics. But for the most part this will involve regulatory measures and laws passed jurisdiction by jurisdiction, of course individual can help but you know, when the debate like this, it's important not to leave a feeling with people listening that it's up to them individually what they do matters, but what they Do as Citizens and voters are in political systems that are considering measures that will actually be

effective. That's even more important. Let me finish with one quick story in my country the Mississippi river runs down the middle of the United States and in the Lower Mississippi River, there is a region known as cancer alley. It is largely populated by people of color low income and it is filled with petrochemical facilities. Petrochemicals are the third largest emitter of industrial greenhouse gases. The cancer rate is many times larger there. There's a brand-new proposal from Formosa Plastics to build a giant new Plastics facility there with

14 different facility omitting. The equivalent of new greenhouse gases that are equivalent to 3 1000 megawatt dirty coal plants further imposing an even heavier burden of cancer on the people who live in that area. I will be there in a couple of months with a number of other people trying to Rally opposition to this facility. You are going to see a mass movement around the world aimed at this these proposals to further increase plastic production. And one thing people don't know is that the fracking

of of natural gas produces a fold in much higher percentages than the normal the olds of production of oil and gas and that makes plastic production even more profitable. So with Transportation fuels going down with electric vehicles with the solar and wind pushing the market for fossil fuel generated electricity going down. There is a hunger to make up that lost Revenue by further increasing the production of plastic and we cannot allow it. I said you had to put an end to this you're 19 years old

when I started out 12 years old and my sister was 10 and you know, it didn't take a very long time for us growing up on the island of Bali to just see plastic ending up in places that it shouldn't and you know in the video before there's a lot of statistics and numbers don't really stay with me, but I wanted to tell you a story of how those numbers on pages are statistics really turn into reality. We recently had a dinner and we live close to the beach. We bought fish from the local fishermen and we prepared the fish. We were about 10 people around the table. We put it up on the table the fish.

We opened it up and right there on our dinner table out Kim bits of plastic that were thick is my nail. So this is where we're seeing plastic single-use plastic enter our daily lives and it's not in the future is happening right now. And the thing that I really liked about this tunnel was that we're addressing Breaking Free from single-use plastic take a plastic bag. For example, the first time that we use it as 30 minutes and then we throw it away and that's the exact problem. We're throwing it away without understanding where the Away really is.

Campaign for the last 6 years together with my team to ban single-use plastic bags after 6 years campaigning. We had that band come into place. But we also know that this is just the beginning this really open the discussion for the larger bigger picture of Waste Management waste separation waste collection. How do we engage government businesses the Plastic industry to get involved in creating a more circular economy or how much campaigning at how much you know, I have you had to fight actually to get some of these things done.

Is I mean to be zero waste coming to get Subway offers had to involve local government local businesses all the residents in the area. So mapping out all the stakeholders and to you how to embroider in in that context is definitely a challenge yet. Mostly know who's there and then to decide on like Phuket Thai parts, and that's why we could stop by for some people not just Searching for the government but the same time how could we work around with local businesses to enlarge their capacity for some

reason for wanting to get out of work like restaurants and cafes to normally do not married to you is that sales but to have the opportunity to share what they have out of stock for competition package presale a carbon emission reduction ask you to search their economy could contribute about to 50% of climate mitigation. Do you feel like your industry has a lot to answer for its packaging. It's bottles. It's things we can do. Got to make a Angeles airport to reduce

reduce definitely be in the freaking do you buy technology so that we can reduce the amount of the plastic to use to make a edible that needs technology and two different people can work with the government. We can work with your citizens so that we can recycle PT bottles. We can reduce it to you commissioned or we have to think about that some aspects one environmental impact to a safety emissions and environmental impact fees for every aspect. I'm considering

old ass pics Quixote bull is the answer to recycle and definitely I recycle I live in London. I don't know where my stuff ends up. I don't know if they do it correctly. So how does a private company make sure that the public service does it correctly but also government and the citizens and the role of the role of the government is very important, but we communicate as business with the government the each party of the three parties. Has to be a responsibility of government that has to raise importance with Recycling and then we

offered innovation technology and recycling Innovation. And the three citizens all they think about the importance of the recycle and I'm not saying that the business can result Alicia's we all three parties have to work together as one people recycling. Do you see if they'll do one thing and actually do it and not all of them even say nothing to your intention that they want to be good. Sorry. I forced to take part in. Recycling if it's the right direction going

for it, but I do question. We don't have the transparency like right now new materials are coming in my life. You can highlight it later that we have this biodegradable material which we don't know. What is the difference from the normal plastic? But what do we do with this when we dispose of materials and we also need to have the system in place what consumers or the general citizen example? I saw a lot of reusable returnable glass balls are in this

so much and have replaced completely returnable Pitbull recycled bottle. That's a reality and. Sevierville number so we have to be realistic about numbers and as I mentioned earlier all aspects, I think about it that the real number such as a plus We invent a lots of new technology to reduce CO2 emissions in the process of the recycling place of people to go Frozen furnished. Who did you have to convince first? And what was hardest one of the largest youth movements in the country education was that

our core so we really understood that we have to change the mindset because for example 6 years ago and we went into a local school. We would ask one simple question. And I remember this is one of the first presentations we ever gave we're a team of four. We all had our scripts we knew who was going to say what and when but we open with a simple question is plastic good or bad as every single kid in the classroom raise their hands. I don't pick me pick me because I know the answer plastic is good. And we're completely taken aback because this was so different than what we had imagined would

be the answer but it was simply because they had not been taught otherwise plastic was introduced 20 years ago Bollywood still using banana leaves traditional sustainable materials plastic was introduced without the learning of the consequence that it would end up in our environment. And so the perception of these kids would they go to the store? They take a plastic bag. They go home. They unwrap the food that they just bought they burn it and the plastic is gone. So education was really key aspect immobilizing and getting pains happening but it wasn't only the students that we have

to educate we have to educate businesses. We have to work and educate and learn with government and I think this is one of the most frustrating Parts understanding of the young changemaker. Why what were the challenges? Why is it taking so long? It should not have taken a six years to Ben single-use plastic bags. So I think that that they're what we're out. What I'm trying to say here is that we have to work with all levels of society. We had to educate we have to learn but now we know the fact we know what we need to do and still that there's a lack of or a very big gap from intention and

action Vice president I'm getting a lot of questions. So please keep on sending your questions. And what's interesting is that the first one was why can't manufacturers stop producing or using plastic packaging their products, but then the last one is what can government do with companies not comply with global targets for plastic reduction to on a big scale. Who do you have to tackle first? Welby economic system, it is broken in important ways at and one way in which it is broken is that the price paid for a plastic

bag or a plastic bottle does not reflect the true cost to Society of what you're purchasing and so in so many ways. We are seeing the aggressive monetizing of the Global Commons cheap destructive extractive exploitive business models that really rely on. Destructive practices that take advantage of the Global Commons Without Really caring about any government. Well governments have to step in order to impose a more accurate cost and that can only happen if there is sufficient awareness among

citizens and sufficient pressure from citizens on gum has now in in many governments around the world including the one in my country. There is what is sometimes called the policy cash or a regulatory capture with the wealthy and industries that devote a lot of resources lobbying campaign contributions revolving-door strategies where their own people become The Regulators in and as a result, the public interest is not reflected in the policies that that are that are made. In some other countries,

there are different results China just enacted a very impressive measured to ban single-use plastic. I hope they have more success with this measure then some other jurisdictions have I rather expect they will let me introduce about Japan rate is 90% And the recycle rate is 85% and 90% of the collection 85% of recycle that is because government in the street citizen we work together and he already is it happening working. Well, the industry is now invest into new

technology to reduce Seal Team. Required to recycle TT ball and the week completed their the technology such as a reducing as much as a 30 to 40% comparing with the Virgin PT bubble. So this is happening in Japan. I'm not talking to you know, you know, I think this kind of it, you know innovation in a bad way and the way to handle the PT Bowl champion, you know applied to some other countries like a little Asia. Maybe we have to order a fitting to the alukal contacts, but I want about the working together like the pan and the unit each

other countries. Interesting was the government of people in the industry have to work together and that's because there is incentive set in place, but there's also Clarity with in regulation and this is something that was super challenging even in an invalid because for example, our own government on an island-wide level didn't understand the autonomy that They Carried to be able to enact a ban on plastic bags for example, so how do governments know what the right hand of the left-hander doing? We have to make sure that governments have that Clarity within their own regulation

does that they're empowered to actually Implement those, you know, put the draw the line in the sentence and provide that guideline for businesses to take action where them citizens can apply their contributions to the community as well. So I think that there is somewhere and this is again interesting part that young people play we can connect those dots and we can be those bridges as long as we're open to the discussion and at the right big questions that aren't that are needed a question I said which is why is it that only 9% of plastics? Are recycled because this

is how you need a local initiative or is it just because some of the classics you can't recycle right back. Is that a first what is recycling? Tell her we could put a fact that might be recycling or do we actually biodegrade everything going back to the earth that is part of the recycling recycling also includes like waste-to-energy, which is recycling. Sorry. We also need to question the numbers and different definition of the recycling and then the

question what would you do for a Bruisin resources which could be a chemical that's the same time as like how many times it could continue to serve sir? That's one way at the same time also at the Second Challenge to Christian. Is that sorry comparison? Usable versus recyclable you mention about the CO2 emissions at the same time like that. Which is not breaking that into the local context maybe that the narrative so three different so it if you break down that then we could discuss a thank you very much

very clear. I just a brief comment on one of the points you made is waste-to-energy recycling I would say no because the common burn a plastic puts poisonous pollution into the air and contributes to to damaging forces for human human health. It also adds greenhouse gas emission, but that make no mistakes. There is a a growth in the strategies for dealing with his huge burden of a plastic by burning it. That that's not the answer at all. I like to respond to you at the comments. We have the on the court with the amount of Stephen computers and the

and the PT bubble example reproduce hundred percent clear and non colored and always to be a label is a detachable easily by a consumer. So this is an accord among competitors. I think we should do it globally spanning the quality of PT solve every country. Every computer industry should talk about what kind of PT ball we should produce and he's not regulated. This is a unibrow Charlie, you know Accord among of computers to talk among the computer to the for the better of the Use of the Plastics to the to society

and this was an effort of of everybody on body of collaborators and partners but IT addresses three sings plastic bag straws and styrofoam. I think straws we're already having a movement on its own where every time you went to a restaurant and nobody was drinking out of a straw anymore. So inventive Alternatives whether that's a papaya stem or just the old fashioned drinking from the cup and then the styrofoam. I think one of the biggest challenges here is the alternative because for example in the food industry or the fish fishing

industry, you know, there are there different ways and there's a lot of discussion on what actually are the alternative. So I'd be curious listen to throw that back to the panel plastic bags. We're seeing more people. Bringing their own plastic bags just bringing it to Thailand actually where there was a viral social media campaign wear when they ban plastic bags people would go to the supermarket with like me most strange alternative to carry their grocery Israeli where there's a movement. I mean people are almost making fun of why haven't we done this earlier? You know, like

how can we actually go back to empowering individuals to say no to plastic but yeah, just a toss it back. What are some of the Alternatives from Breaking Free from single-use right? Let me bring it back to the topic of of the panel a little bit. What have you seen without plastic supply chain work if you work tomorrow to go to the office and say guys that we're stopping classic R&D to replace a plastic such as a bio. Ocean to throw 3030. We don't know yet. But what we have to do as industry is to find alternative. We have to pursue thee

that the activity as a matter of fact. Working on it. I'm not saying plastic of the best best solution for ever. So Industries working on the Alternatives, but at this moment recycled listen, I from every aspect I'm not saying again and that's forever, but I'm for the time being and easily key to resolving the issue the point at the beginning is it actually a lot of these new technologies? We don't know exactly how they dissolve and you know the oceans and Earth. Is there a technology or is it a measurement problem? We just not had enough time to

be able to measure it because they were invented years ago, and we need to it to look in the next 20-30 years would they become What kind of Technology on my various we have in place or getting into the place at the same time? Like we also need to understand the different circles when we talk about the stock. Should I buy you a part which how much I see that new thing back the nutrition or the artist. That's one point. We really need to measure not just breaking down the plastic into Nano fibers that will spay anyways vs. We also need

to look into how many times we could actually reuse or recycle about anal. Stay in the same. Co-op needs to be in place to actually sitting all the miseries and then coming back to you know, the living from the nature to be used is definitely the way we look into which collects miss my point of localization because that's not like the mass production that we are looking at doing cancel that We need to see what is the best for the local solution while as a business. Of course, you need to create

a solution yet. We also need to look into the name of the motel and then see what's 15 into the complex their supply and demand and reusing and recycling. We've talked mostly about demand reuse and recycling. I want to come back to the issue of Supply because we're now in the midst of business plans and strategies to double the total supply of plastic and we just need to stop doing that and I want to re-emphasize the linkage Plastics production to The Climate crisis. It is a major emitter of greenhouse gases and

just as there has been a mass public movement to block the construction of Dirty coal plants and soon we're getting the same thing with natural gas plants. There is now the beginning of a mass public movement to block the building of new Plastics manufacturing plants. And when you cut off the supply progressively then that will give more incentive to come up with better materials and better Recycling and reuse dress. Who do you think will be at the Forefront of that movement is it a lot of groups that will be in the Forefront or environmental

justice groups and the the new Poor People's campaign in the United States of America led by Reverend William Barber II. It is one of those that is leading of this movement. I'm joining with him. The center for Earth ethics is involved in this and most of all local communities in cancer alley if they're There is a there's a Grassroots movement among these are committed largely African-American communities. So low income who are tired of having these excessive been horrendous

cancer rates imposed on them. And because they have not had the Legacy political influence and power that that people have a ride to they have been victimized, you know environmental Injustice is it is a pattern worldwide and now there is an Awakening among people who have been victimized and they're the ones who are lead. Vice president I think of speaking about the Plastics that is made of mostly petroleum. Yeah, what about changing to the biochips? And in case then that we can reduce it tremendously

this UT missions and that little partners to to produce at 100% plant-based Pitbull. We're seeing a shift from oil to gas get in the price of both are artificially cheap because there's subsidized because of policy capture. We have subsidies for carbon-based fuels that 38 times larger than the subsidies for renewable and as we shift to guess we see a higher mix of ethyl in in in the production, which may Artificially cheaper to produce more and more and more plastic. So as long as that seems to be the cheapest because the full cost of society are not

included at all. Then the market forces will continue to push in that direction. So absent a carbon tax, which I see as I said, it's difficult to impose an absent regulations places like China or doing it the US should some local and state jurisdictions will then people power demonstrations opposition and not just demonstrations, but the kind of very imaginative a strategies that led to the closing of so many coal plants in the United States cutting off the flow of funding pressuring the investors pressuring the

stockholders pressuring the board of pressuring the parent companies if they are consumer-facing companies, they have their reputations to worry about high cancer rates and high pollution rates and poisoning the food chain with Stick as we heard eloquently if public attention is focused on that they have to back off. Oblong face, there's one thing I was also would like to highlight. What is the chemical elements on top of the original materials? So that will be the pollution potentially and

coming out from the material on the production side. So, how do we also make sure that's not happening when we switched so we have a sum of the results from the polls. So thank you for everyone who's voted to the question was How likely are you to make changes in your own consumption habits or in the way your business or organization operates 80% of you have said definitely 13% likely 7% uncertain. I mean, what are the seven percent doing? What is the single biggest thing and not to let me start with you we can do to reduce the amount

of plastic that ends up in the oceans. So what would you do as individuals we can think about our daily lives in our daily activities and see how we want to eliminate. Please plastic. You don't have to do all of it all overnight because I can be quite a big ambitious goal, but you can start with all of the small stuff that we see so plastic bottles bringing your own reusable bottle or the next time you go to the grocery store, bring your own alternative bags and then going out there pressure in your government's pressure in companies. And show them that there's demand from the people

because so many times and too often still today. We are hearing company saying people do not want it and governments are saying people are not ready for it. So I think we have a huge responsibility that again people power. We have to really step into this role and see the potential that we have to decide what ends up on the supermarket shelves. So use that power use your voice and see what changes will come out of it. You might be surprised. But off to you on your specific question Francine about how to prevent so much for going into the ocean there a lot of really good

projects now focused on catching the plastic at at the mouths of the major rivers prison, most all of the plastic that goes into the ocean signment Untold comes out of these these rivers and there are a lot of efforts now that and their efforts to try to collect it in the you know, the garbage patch their survival of those and I don't I wish him. Well, it seems like a very difficult challenge but catching it at the mouths of rivers seems to be a definite. I mean just on that note 80% of the plastic that ends up in the ocean is coming from the rivers actually Indonesia. We have someone

here Riverman Gary from make a change. He is installing a hundred trash blooms across all the different rivers in Bali in this is just one way how we can get involved in there so many around the world and then this is definitely a solution that's that's doable and replicable and scalable Acura ourselves, but on top of that it's not only about life, you know your friends. Well, that's where to stop at the same time in engage oldest other stakeholders like local businesses local shops local government chapter questions. But also, how do we like make sure that they also

get some get on board and if I need and I'm up. What's the role they can take as a full-scale. At the same time use your communication skills how to how to direct that questions, but it's like to not you just point out that but what they could do and don't you just enjoy ourselves like individually, but the system exchange would happen afterwards after you communicate like in Spanish. We like more people are trying to ditch the plastic straw so ask the restaurant people

just leave it but what happens after they just throw it away. But if you could at least communicate to the person who broke up and I don't need it. Then what will happen if people don't want to be refused so they will remember that. Okay, some people aren't you know, maybe that's a choice. They will say okay from now on I don't want to be refused how it sound like, you know how we offer so they stop asking do you need it or not? So that's actually a systematic

approach. I'm sure that the currently she's a reduction reviews of the plastic straws and we see you know any hotels in a restaurants in Japan and everywhere and every corner of the many countries should reduction abusive plastic stores. And there are so many devices it to replace the Chelsea doll. Some other material is good for environment. So it's already going on on the way and you see the huge change it compared with you between now and the two years ago last year should you change so we should be optimistic because of people know we should not use it, you know,

drinking of water drinking a beverage self industrial. I'm not promoting to use straws and me plastic straws, so it's done. Changing according to bracelet from plastic Coca-Cola is the world's biggest poodle Plastics followed by Nestle to make a difference. Do they do they realize how many of their bottles are recycled and where they end up follow? You know, that's a real so we in the suite has been changing quite a lot less Plastics and up the better solution in the bathtub replacement. That's about the weird working on. So believe me

on that. I wonder you know Are we doing enough are we really doing enough considering the time crunch that were in I mean a ticking time clock has has started and it's it's not something that we have to wait for goals of 2050. We need to see a stronger goals happened right now. I mean Indonesia, for example to reduce 70% of waste by 2025 that's 5 years from now less than it took us to ban one single-use plastic item. So we have to we have to be realistic we have to So I think there's a lot of pressure.

I think that there needs to be a lot more stronger commitments and actually to Coca-Cola which was recently stated here. They're not going to change using plastic bottles because the people don't want to have changed from plastic bottles. So question is like why are they getting that information from in the first place super curious also to know what they would need in order to change that perspective. What is it? Actually that companies want from us to hear and to be motivated to actually make the leap because I think that we do want that change if there's a good

replacement we want to change because we know that her to the ocean so so we voted for the time being. Pepper bottle to be recycled at the optimal option. But if there's any we are flexible we accept so don't forget But just how much longer do we have to wait is it it's definitely not a challenge of budget. It's definitely not a challenge of whether the people want it or not. So what is what what is the bigger than us Challenge and barrier that keeps companies from changing.

That's what that's what my question is. That's on my frustration is I just I don't see why we're not moving faster. I want to talk to you, Robert recovering politicians to partner in. Sentence. Of course, I be contrary all this like specific like, you know, ultimate solution to create a solution the small scale which company is also passed out what they want to try it out and see you know, what's the response and then you can avoid smoking is a phone call to do today to someone who can make a difference on this. Who would that be? Call B2 melati.

Akira to Akira Maeda policymakers. That's with me of course alternative the fastest solution if they put that in place and ours. Is there someone specific is it? Is it your or is it your mirror is it's your special level national-level policy-making lead on the regulation building. Definitely Taqueria going to be together and the and the how we can communicate with you cuz you must be in the rookie with you and how to effectively communicated to Consumers and I'm not

saying that the government is only the party to to take Even the citizens and how to only government not only you know in those three parties have to work a cohesively but the leadership is a Tronics industry. There is a big movement for companies to take responsibility for it take of it taking their used products and waist back for really a thousands of a penny we couldn't print identification on these plastic get on these Plastics and use blockchain to assign responsibility for the company is responsible for putting them into Commerce in the first place and

then ask them to accept responsibility for bringing it back and disposing of it properly. They need to make all this narrative star on this to show that it's actually the nice. We have taken call like a quick phone call, and we heard policymakers and Industry already. So just to add a different coin or a different side of the story. I would pick up the phone and called the minister of Education cuz I still think that there's a massive education Gap, and if people don't know what the problem is, how can they ever get involved in in rallying in

demonstrating in coming up with campaigns to better the policies better than media stories. So that's why would call Minister and edema Kareem. If you're up for a phone call. Let me know. Alright, thank you so much in closing. I would like to invite Christian Youth director of global plastic Action Partnership of the world economic Forum to just a few words. Thank you. I don't know about you, but I thought that was very energetic and frankly, very entertaining panel so I can can we say thank you.

A lot of really amazing insights here from a very diverse group. So thank you again in a couple of really important takeaways that I heard was that first and foremost. It's very complex. Right was there not a very diverse set of opinions and of ways we can attack this problem. I II V was the time to act is now melati gave us a very clear call-to-action. Let's get on it, right we need to act now and the third is that there is a role for each of us in this so throughout that value chain for Plastics whether you're using it as a retailer R Us at

Butler but also for those of us as consumers, how do we actually attack this further Upstream through our own consumer Behavior awareness education as well as down street with Innovation Investments Etc. So we we we are going to be looking at this from a very holistic and very diverse perspective and I commit to you today on behalf of the world economic. In line with our 50th Anniversary, we will be approaching this utilizing stakeholders throughout the value chain investors a technology and everybody else. We we we invite you along on our journey to engaging us in a sustainable and

cohesive way. Thank you again to the panel and thanks to each of you for your body.