How I became an entrepreneur at 66

In January 2016, the World Economic Forum, the Ellen MacArthur Foundation and McKinsey & Company published the report The New Plastics Economy – Rethinking the future of plastics. It was produced as part of MainStream – a multi-industry, global initiative which aims to accelerate business-driven innovations and help scale the circular economy. For the first time, the report provided transparency on global plastics material flows and associated economics. It found that, while plastics and plastic packaging are a key part of the global economy, the current plastics economy has significant drawbacks that are becoming more apparent by the day. In addition, it presented a blueprint for a more effective plastics system based on circular economy principles – in effect, a New Plastics Economy.

What should corporate responsibility look like for the plastics and packaging industry?  Given the overwhelming amount of plastics that end up in the environment, what responsibility do the manufacturers of disposable plastic and packaging products have for limiting and cleaning up this waste?  Do we need more legislation to hold corporations responsible?  And who's really making the decisions in this industry?

Brushing your teeth with a yogurt container? Wiping your mouth with a coffee cup? You might be doing both, as a result of a new trend in recycling, courtesy of the manufacturers who make the original products. A growing number of large food and beverage companies in the United States are assuming the costs of recycling their packaging after consumers are finished with it, a responsibility long imposed on packaged goods companies in Europe and more recently in parts of Asia, Latin America and Canada. Several factors are converging to make what is known as "extended producer responsibility" more attractive and, perhaps, more commonplace in the United States.

Global consumers are guided by product packaging in their buying behavior, not least in India. We reject products in plastic packaging and feel guilty when we throw away plastic water bottles. We worry about the amount of packaging consumed by society, and when shopping online we might consider having goods delivered in simple standard packaging instead of the original packaging if it makes them cheaper. These are the results of an international study by Innventia, Packaging 2020, carried out in association with Kairos Future.

UNEP and the Plastic Disclosure Project commissioned Trucost to carry out this analysis into plastic use, disclosure and management in the consumer goods sector. The objective of this report is to help companies manage the opportunities and risks associated with plastic use. It makes the business case for companies to improve their measurement, disclosure, and management of plastic use in their designs, operations and supply chains.

Andrew Dent, vice president of library and materials research at Material ConneXion, is like a sommelier. Presiding over the world’s largest library of materials, his job is to listen to the requirements of his clients — a list which includes Armani, Chrysler, Calvin Klein, Hermann Miller, Disney, Nike, Toyota, and many, many more — and come up with an innovative material that suits their needs. His level of obsession in this field is such that he makes Apple’s Jonathan Ive, a fellow Brit, seem like he’s never done his homework.

Paul Tasner traces the roots of his business, PulpWorks, to a late-career gig at the natural-cleaning products company Method. After decades as an operations executive in the corporate world, including 15 years at Clorox, Tasner moved to Method in his late 50s and became immersed in the sustainability ethos. When the recession descended, unfortunately, the one thing not sustainable was his job.

Since Paul Tasner, CEO and co-founder of PulpWorks Inc. was featured as a nominee for The Chronicle's Visionary of the Year award last year, he has been busy answering a lot of phone calls. Whether it is the result of consumer pressure or the possible onset of an environmental awakening, business is booming at PulpWorks' Mission Street office. "Companies who we used to call several years ago — that wouldn't take our calls — are now calling us. It's very rewarding," Tasner said, who co-founded PulpWorks Inc. in 2011 with architect Elena Olivari, who shared his passion for sustainability.

After Paul Tasner, an engineer, was laid off at age 64, there was something he couldn’t stop thinking about: plastic. During his 35-year career in supply-chain management at consumer-products companies such as Clorox and Method Products Inc., Mr. Tasner saw firsthand the vast amounts of non-biodegradable plastic used in packaging products. Once he was no longer working, he started to think more about the huge impact so much plastic waste has on the environment. U.S. consumers alone throw out millions of tons of plastic waste each year. So, Mr. Tasner decided he had to do something about it.