Plastic Disclosure Project

The Plastic Disclosure Project (PDP) is an environmental disclosure and waste-reduction initiative focused on the effects of plastic used in products, services, and packaging. It was announced in 2010 during the opening plenary session of the Clinton Global Initiative as a preventive response to the growing problem of plastic waste. The initiative is associated with the Ocean Recovery Alliance, a United States-based 501(c)(3) organization. PDP applies a disclosure model broadly similar to that used by the Carbon Disclosure Project. Its central premise is that organizations cannot manage plastic efficiently unless they first establish how much plastic they use, where it enters their operations, how it is discarded, and what proportion is reused or recycled. PDP therefore encourages companies, universities, institutions, and other organizations to measure their plastic footprint, report relevant information annually, identify reduction opportunities, and adopt better systems for reuse, recycling, procurement, and product design. The project’s stated objectives are to enable the continued beneficial use of plastic without creating corresponding environmental damage, promote measurement and annual reporting of plastic production or waste, encourage more sustainable business practices, and stimulate innovation in plastic products and packaging. Its approach is not limited to eliminating plastic altogether. Instead, it emphasizes accountability, resource efficiency, improved design, and the development of practical alternatives and recovery systems. PDP’s working process involves sending disclosure requests to organizations that use plastic in goods or services. These requests may be made on behalf of socially responsible investors and community stakeholders. The project also seeks to connect participating organizations with solution providers that can help them redesign products and packaging, reduce unnecessary material use, improve collection and recycling, and develop more effective waste-management practices. Participation is open to different types of organizations rather than being restricted to a single industry. Lush was identified as the first participant to disclose its plastic-waste data, doing so in 2011. The University of California, Berkeley became the first university participant in 2012. At Berkeley, the initiative involved Campus Recycling and Refuse Services and the Office of Sustainability, with an intended monitoring role for interns tracking plastic waste leaving the campus. PDP also attracted interest from organizations in multiple countries, indicating an ambition to operate across national and sectoral boundaries. In 2012, during the Plasticity Forum in Rio de Janeiro, PDP formed an alliance with the Plastic Pollution Coalition to cooperate on reducing plastic waste on university campuses worldwide. This partnership extended the initiative’s emphasis on disclosure into campus-based action and broader collaboration. Publicly available reference material does not establish a current operating status, a current executive team, a separate legal corporation, or a current list of participating organizations. Accordingly, PDP is best understood as an environmental accountability initiative associated with the Ocean Recovery Alliance rather than as a conventional consumer-products company.

The Plastic Disclosure Project emerged in 2010 amid increasing concern about the environmental effects of plastic production, consumption, and disposal. It was announced at the opening plenary session of the Clinton Global Initiative as a preventive project intended to address global plastic waste before its impacts became more difficult to manage. The initiative was modeled conceptually on the Carbon Disclosure Project: rather than treating environmental performance as an unmeasured aspiration, it sought to encourage organizations to quantify their use of a material and disclose the resulting information. PDP’s approach centers on the idea that measurement is a prerequisite for effective management. Organizations are encouraged to identify the amount and types of plastic associated with their goods, services, facilities, and waste streams. They are then expected to use this information to manage and reduce unnecessary consumption, improve reuse and recycling, and explore alternative designs and materials. The project’s framework is commonly summarized as measuring, managing, reducing, and deriving benefits from plastic use. Its goal is not simply the removal of all plastic, but a system in which plastic can continue to provide useful functions without creating avoidable environmental damage. The initiative was designed for broad participation. Companies, educational institutions, public bodies, and other organizations could engage with PDP, and disclosure requests could be directed to plastic-using organizations on behalf of socially conscious investors and community stakeholders. PDP also sought to connect participants with companies and experts capable of providing practical solutions. This linked the disclosure process to operational changes in procurement, packaging, product design, waste collection, recycling, and resource efficiency. Lush was the first reported participant to disclose its plastic-waste data in 2011. The following year, the University of California, Berkeley became the first university to join the initiative. Berkeley’s participation involved Campus Recycling and Refuse Services and the Office of Sustainability. The campus planned to monitor plastic waste leaving university operations and to use interns in support of that work. This university example illustrated how PDP’s model could be adapted from corporate reporting to institutional waste management. PDP’s international orientation became more visible in 2012. During the Plasticity Forum in Rio de Janeiro, it formed an alliance with the Plastic Pollution Coalition to collaborate on reducing plastic waste at university campuses around the world. The alliance broadened the initiative’s network and connected disclosure with campus-based education and practical reduction programs. Reference material also records interest from companies in several countries, although it does not provide a complete or current participation list. The Plastic Disclosure Project is listed as an entity of the Ocean Recovery Alliance, a United States 501(c)(3) organization. Available reference material does not identify a separate incorporated company, founder, current headquarters, current executive leadership, or a confirmed present operating status. It also does not document a conventional product portfolio or commercial revenue model. Its significance lies instead in promoting organizational accountability for plastic use and in encouraging measurable changes to the design, consumption, recovery, and disposal of plastic materials.

• 2012

  First university participation

  [1]Plastic Disclosure Projecten.wikipedia.org

  The University of California, Berkeley became the first university reported to join PDP, involving its recycling and sustainability departments in campus plastic-waste monitoring.

• 2012

  Alliance with Plastic Pollution Coalition

  [1]Plastic Disclosure Projecten.wikipedia.org

  PDP and the Plastic Pollution Coalition formed an alliance at the Plasticity Forum in Rio de Janeiro to cooperate on reducing plastic waste at university campuses worldwide.

• 2011

  First reported organizational disclosure

  [1]Plastic Disclosure Projecten.wikipedia.org

  Lush became the first participant identified in the available reference material as having disclosed plastic-waste data through PDP.

• 2010

  Announcement at the Clinton Global Initiative

  [1]Plastic Disclosure Projecten.wikipedia.org

  The Plastic Disclosure Project was announced during the opening plenary session of the Clinton Global Initiative as a preventive initiative addressing the environmental impact of growing plastic use and waste.

An environmental accountability and sustainability initiative that applies measurement and disclosure principles to plastic use, waste, reuse, recycling, and product design.

• Environmental reporting · 2010

  Plastic disclosure requests

  A reporting mechanism through which organizations using plastic in products, packaging, or services are asked to measure and disclose relevant plastic-use and waste information. Requests may be directed on behalf of socially conscious investors and community stakeholders.

• Sustainability management · 2010

  Plastic footprint management

  A framework encouraging organizations to quantify plastic entering their operations and then manage, reduce, reuse, recycle, or redesign related materials. The approach connects measurement with operational efficiency and environmental accountability.

• Institutional waste reduction · 2012

  Campus plastic-waste programs

  A format for applying PDP principles in universities and other institutions. The reported Berkeley example involved recycling and sustainability offices and planned monitoring of plastic waste leaving campus operations.

• 2012University plastic-waste reduction alliance

  International · University campuses

  PDP allied with the Plastic Pollution Coalition at the Plasticity Forum in Rio de Janeiro to collaborate on reducing plastic waste at universities worldwide.

  Outcome. The alliance expanded PDP’s campus-oriented collaboration network; the available source does not quantify results.

  Source
• 2010Plastic Disclosure Project launch

  International

  PDP was introduced as a preventive initiative intended to reduce the environmental impact associated with rising plastic use and global plastic waste.

  Outcome. The initiative established a disclosure-centered framework for organizational plastic measurement and management.

  Source

• 2010

  Adopt a disclosure-based plastic management modelStrategy

  Background

  The project was created in response to growing plastic waste and was conceptually aligned with disclosure approaches used for carbon management.

  Action taken

  PDP emphasized measuring plastic use and waste before attempting to manage, reduce, reuse, recycle, or redesign it.

  Aftermath

  The model was applied to both companies and institutions, including Lush and the University of California, Berkeley.

  Source

1. 1Plastic Disclosure Projecten.wikipedia.org