Ideas worth spreading

A radical plan to end plastic waste

2,978,299 views |

Andrew Forrest |

We the Future

• September 2019

Plastic is an incredible substance for the economy -- and the worst substance possible for the environment, says entrepreneur Andrew Forrest. In a conversation meant to spark debate, Forrest and head of TED Chris Anderson discuss an ambitious plan to get the world's biggest companies to fund an environmental revolution -- and transition industry towards getting all of its plastic from recycled materials, not from fossil fuels.

Plastic is an incredible substance for the economy -- and the worst substance possible for the environment, says entrepreneur Andrew Forrest. In a conversation meant to spark debate, Forrest and head of TED Chris Anderson discuss an ambitious plan to get the world's biggest companies to fund an environmental revolution -- and transition industry towards getting all of its plastic from recycled materials, not from fossil fuels.

This talk was presented at an official TED conference. TED's editors chose to feature it for you.

Visit noplasticwaste.org to learn more about how we can clean the oceans through technological innovation and policy change.

Tell others that a world with #NoPlastic waste is possible.

About the speakers

Andrew Forrest

See speaker profile

Andrew "Twiggy" Forrest is an Australian businessman, philanthropist and entrepreneur, widely considered one of the country’s greatest change agents.

Chris Anderson

See speaker profile

After a long career in journalism and publishing, Chris Anderson became the curator of the TED Conference in 2002 and has developed it as a platform for identifying and disseminating ideas worth spreading.

Frontiers in Marine Science | Forrest et al, 2019 | Article

"Eliminating Plastic Pollution: How a Voluntary Contribution From Industry Will Drive the Circular Plastics Economy"

How big is the plastic waste problem? Why should industry make a voluntary contribution to solving it? How does it work? And how do we know it will make a difference? The foundational analysis behind the "Sea the Future" solution is outlined in detail in this September 2019 academic paper.

The Conversation | Forrest et al, 2019 | Article

"Here is a global solution to the plastic waste crisis - and A$443 million to get it started"

Want something you can digest quickly? Dive into this Conversation piece, which explains why we need to change the value of plastic to address this problem and why industry holds the keys.

McKinsey & Company, 2018 | Article

"No time to waste: What plastics recycling could offer"

Global management consultants McKinsey & Company explain why the chemical industry should be viewing the plastic waste crisis as an opportunity. End of life plastic, they argue, is a largely untapped resource waiting to be exploited by industry, and the large chemical companies and plastics manufacturers are ideally placed to capitalize on this, with benefits to their bottom line as well as to society at large.

Ellen MacArthur Foundation, 2016 | Article

The New Plastics Economy: Rethinking the future of plastics

With contributions from dozens of industry, academic, policy and NGO experts, this report lays out the challenges and opportunities of moving away from our current, wasteful, linear plastics economy, and charts a pathway to a new circular model that captures and retains the value of this wonder material. Key to their strategy is decoupling new plastic production from fossil fuel — exactly what the "Sea The Future" initiative aims to achieve.

Science Advances | Geyer, R., Jambeck, J. R., and Law, K. L., 2017 | Article

"Production, use, and fate of all plastics ever made"

This seminal paper lays out the bare facts of our broken relationship with plastics: how much we have made, how much our use of plastic has grown, and what we have done with it all. (Spoiler: we’ve dumped it in the environment). If you want to understand the magnitude of the plastic waste crisis, this is for you.

Learn more

This talk was presented at an official TED conference. TED's editors chose to feature it for you.

Visit noplasticwaste.org to learn more about how we can clean the oceans through technological innovation and policy change.

Tell others that a world with #NoPlastic waste is possible.