The linear economy, of which plastics packaging value chain is an iconic example, is ripe for disruption. Without a doubt, plastics bring many benefits, and society as we know it would not be able to work without them. But it is becoming increasingly evident that the current, linear plastics system is broken (Figure 1). Globally, only 14% of plastics packaging is collected for recycling, with even less actually making it back into applications. This means that money is being left on the table every day – a loss of $80-$120 billion of material value per year to the global economy.
It has resulted in a heavy environmental toll that is increasing exponentially. A staggering one-third of all plastics packaging leaks into the environment – a rate so high that by 2050 there could be, by weight, more plastics than fish in the ocean. The rest is either landfilled or incinerated with adverse health and environmental impacts. The total negative externalities from the linear plastics system are hard to quantify, but a conservative estimate by UN Environment valued them at$40 billion a year – more than the industry’s entire profit pool.