Dow supports plastic waste initiatives

Dow announced its intention to invest more and and develop new global initiatives and solutions that work to prevent and remediate plastic waste in the environment. 

 

The initiatives, announced in conjunction with the recent Our Ocean Conference in Bali, Indonesia, include Dow’s commitment to join several other major global brands to become a founding investor in Circulate Capital’s $100 million effort to incubate and finance companies and infrastructure that prevent waste in oceans. 

 

Dow also announced at the Bali Conference that it intends to donate an additional $1 million to Ocean Conservancy over the next two years to support waste collection and recycling solutions in Southeast Asian countries. This money would be used for projects that build the capacity of local non-governmental organizations and partnerships with city leaders to develop, scale and replicate implementable solutions.

 

“Dow is leading the way in our industry – by applying circular economy logic, collaborating across the value chain, innovating new products, and through the commitment of our employees and customers – to put an end to plastic waste in the environment,” said Jim Fitterling, chief executive officer of Dow. “We will continue to seek opportunities to work with our industry partners, brand owners, local, national and international governments, NGOs and consumers to ensure that we develop true circular economy solutions for plastics.”

 

 

Circulate Capital’s mission is to demonstrate the viability of investment in the waste management and recycling sectors to attract the institutional investment capital needed to scale integrated recycling and waste management companies and infrastructure across South and Southeast Asia. These regions have been identified as contributing disproportionately to ocean plastic pollution primarily because they lack the critical waste infrastructure to manage the problem. Circulate Capital’s investment model seeks to mobilize institutional investment capital through financial structures that blend concessionary and philanthropic funds with market rate investment capital with a view to mitigating risk and demonstrating that investment in the resource recovery sector can ultimately provide attractive financial returns. Circulate Capital expects to receive $100 million in combined funding from a variety of the world’s leading consumer packaged goods and chemical companies.

 

Ocean Conservancy is working to protect the ocean from today’s greatest global challenges. Together with its partners, the organization creates science-based solutions for a healthy ocean and the wildlife and communities that depend on it. Dow’s latest $1 million donation to Ocean Conservancy builds upon the more than 20-year relationship between the organizations. As a major sponsor of the organization’s annual International Coastal Cleanup, Dow and Ocean Conservancy founded the Trash Free Seas Alliance® (TFSA) in 2012, a coalition of businesses, academics and NGOs, to analyze and address upstream causes of ocean plastic pollution.