Emerging Trend: Corporate Sustainability
Key Insight: Companies engaged in corporate sustainability are balancing long-term stakeholder value along with traditional shareholder value using economic, social, environmental, ethical, cultural factors as prioritized dimensions of doing business. These companies incorporate longer-term planning, and they intentionally look at the next-order implications of their actions.
Some companies are developing new materials and pushing environmental packaging, as part of a broader effort to make sustainability a core corporate value. This isn’t just about rejecting plastic straws. Any organization can follow suit by developing long-term strategy, vision and R&D plans to create new business opportunities, which help shareholders while also helping the planet.
Examples: Just this month, Business Waste, a U.K. trash company, just made a public plea to B, asking them to clamp down on Christmas waste. Ikea started using biodegradable packaging from mushrooms, and Walmart recently announced it would would work with suppliers to achieve 100% recyclable, reusable or compostable packaging by 2025. Origin Materials will make plastic bottles from sawdust and cardboard. Evian promised to use recycled plastic in all its water bottles by 2025. Starbucks pledged to eliminate plastic straws by 2020. British supermarket Morrisons will bring back traditional brown paper bags for loose fruit and vegetables, and a number of cities have banned plastic bags at grocery stores. Adidas created a whole line of shoes made with recycled plastic called Adidas Parley, partnering with Parley for the Oceans, an environmental group combatting ocean plastic pollution.
What’s Next: Small companies and scientists are leading the charge for more sustainable smart packaging. Efforts include moisture-control and temperature sensors incorporated into QR codes to antimicrobial and edible packaging— even packaging that eats itself after it is no longer needed. Saltwater Brewery in South Florida designed plastic rings for its six-packs of beer to be biodegradable and edible. Berlin-based Infarm created a renewable sheet of plastic that folds to create a self-contained package. University of Minnesota researchers are developing new kinds of polymers that will self-destruct or “unzip” when exposed to light, heat, or acid. Stockholm-based Tomorrow Machine has also developed oil packaging made from caramelized sugar and coated wax. Designed for rice, oil and smoothies, you crack the package like an egg and melt it in water. This kind of active and intelligent packaging used for meat has been shown to extend shelf life and cut costs.
Mid-Futures Scenarios (2026 - 2031):
- Optimistic: We approach a zero-waste system for plastic production. New laws require disposable single-use products to be made of plastics that can be entirely broken down using an organic process, an organic or biodegradable alternative, or recycled and recyclable plastics. New technologies deconstruct existing plastic back into component materials for reuse, and companies get fined if they produce virgin plastics that cannot be fully digested by an enzyme or other biological process. We reclaim our oceans and earth from plastic pollution, which diminishes because few new plastics are introduced. We see notable improvements in rehabilitative ecological efforts and the overall health of the planet.
- Pragmatic: Companies continue to innovate and create alternative materials for products and packaging. But those alternatives still come at a premium. Less eco-conscious companies continue to use traditional cost-saving plastics and maintain a cost advantage.
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Catastrophic: A global recession forces corporations to abandon R&D and “green” initiatives to save money, leaving them more dependent on plastics than ever before. Governments roll back even moderate regulations on climate-harming plastic production in an attempt to boost national economies. This leaves the door wide open for massive scale manufacturing of virgin plastics. These materials flood the planet, clogging various biomes and playing a major role in the widespread collapse of our global ecosystem.
Action Meter:
Watchlist: Amazon; Walmart; Ikea; Ecovative; Ocean Cleanup; University of Portsmouth; Origin Materials; Business Waste; Starbucks; Adidas; Parley for the Oceans; Morrisons; Salt Water Brewery; Infarm; University of Minnesota; Tomorrow Machine; Chevron; Ingersoll Rand; Carbios; Recycling Technologies; University of Portsmouth; The Seabin Project.
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