The top managers and CEOs of several of the world’s leading plastics producers met for one of the regular meetings of the World Plastics Council (WPC; www.worldplasticscouncil.org) on the afternoon of 24 October at the “K” fair in Düsseldorf / Germany. Meetings held by the largely virtual organisation – with no headquarters or staff – tend to take place at key industry events. In fact, “K 2016” occupies a particularly important role – measured in K time, the body behind the three-letter acronym is still very young.

Founded at “K 2013”, the members of the WPC today represent 75% of total global plastics production. Since its inception, the organisation has continued to grow and today counts 17 companies. At their gathering, the members took stock of their activities this past year and decided on the courses of action for 2017.

The main goal of the WPC is to combat marine litter and the growing problem posed by plastic waste. Its targets of “Zero Plastics to Landfill” and “Zero Plastics to the Oceans” have become synonyms for a new dimension of Corporate Social Responsibility. In 2016 the organisation was able to make further inroads in its quest by gaining two new members in Asia, the region where 40-75% of plastic that ends up in the ocean originates. That is why the decision by India’s Reliance and South Korea’s Daelim to join the group is so important.

Facing the press were four WPC board members: Abdulrahman al-Fageeh (Sabic), Patrick Thomas (Covestro), Jim Seward (LyondellBasell) and Mark Nikolich (Braskem). Each of them had a different reason for joining the organisation and the battle against marine litter. Taking the view of a corporation, Thomas said that although plastics producers are on an entirely different level of the value chain, that does not diminish the responsibility they feel for the behaviour of a customer’s customer. Seward said it is a classic case of being both part of the problem and part of the solution. He pointed to his personal desire to leave a clean environment for the next generation.

From an organisational perspective, the WPC is currently working to gain recognition from the UN. That process is proving to be more difficult than initially thought, said Karl-H. Foerster, executive director of plastics producers association PlasticsEurope, adding that the organisation hopes to have achieved that goal by 2018.

Looking towards the future, Asia remains a key target region for WPC-led activities, from education campaigns in Thai schools to the search for funding for recycling or clean-up activities. With that in mind, the members will continue to use their peer-to-peer approach to induce new players to join the organisation.