As a kid, I loved hearing my dad extol the virtues of his polyvinyl flooring business: softness, durability, water resistance, insulation, price. The smell sometimes made me dizzy as I ran through his warehouse, but compared to wood and ceramic tiles, plastic seemed like a cool product. Cheap and versatile materials are so attractive that former Unilever CEO Paul Polman says plastic now weighs twice as much as every animal on the planet. It pointed out. So all eyes are now on Ottawa as policymakers around the world wrap up the latest round of negotiations to create the first global treaty to reduce plastic pollution.
No one is more aware of the challenges of working with plastics than those who are building businesses around them. Jim Fitterling, his CEO at Dow, a founding member of the Alliance to End Plastic Waste, recently spoke to me about how his company is focused on building a circular economy. The key is to encourage brands to incorporate recycled materials into their products by offering comparable quality and attractive prices.
Eastman, a materials company, operates what is said to be the world’s largest chemical recycling plant, with more facilities on the way. CEO Mark Costa He argues that the complexity of the plastic waste issue requires cooperation from all sides. “If we want to have any chance of scaling up solutions to this critical challenge, we need policies that encourage investment in both mechanical and chemical recycling that meet important environmental principles,” he says.
Surendra Patawali, a pioneer in the global recycling industry who founded Gemini, collects plastic waste from more than 300 locations around the world every month. He worries that regulatory challenges are making it difficult to recycle plastic. Recycling facilities often lack sufficient plastic “raw material”, resulting in reduced investment in recycling. People want to recycle plastic, but often they can’t do it in their own backyard. Encina recently scrapped plans to build a plant in Pennsylvania, citing backlash over potential contamination from the process.
While there will be another round of discussion before the UN treaty is signed, it is notable that companies are coming together through organizations such as the US Plastics Pact to address the issue. “All eyes are on Ottawa and everyone is fighting for their own interests, and perhaps that’s to be expected,” Patawali says. While reducing plastics is a priority, he argues that “if we don’t address the cost of the waste we create, we are doomed.”
Meanwhile, as Alan Murray finishes his term as CEO, luckIBM CEO Arvind Krishna shares what the brand means to him.
“I’ve always been an avid reader. luck, a publication that not only records but shapes the story of modern business. Its superior reporting and analysis make it an influential and essential guide to the forces influencing companies, markets, and the world. ”
Please see the news below for more information.
diane brady
@dianebrady
Diane.brady@fortune.com
top News
HSBC CEO resigns
HSBC Chief Executive Officer Noel Quinn has announced that he will step down after about five years at the helm of Europe’s largest bank. Quinn has pivoted HSBC to Asia and reduced the bank’s presence in the United States, France and other developed markets. HSBC reported pre-tax profit of $12.6 billion for the quarter, down 1.8% from the same period last year. bloomberg
back door
TikTok’s owner, ByteDance, retained control of some employee systems, including messaging and technology management software, a former security compliance employee said. This could have given Chinese companies access to U.S. user data that employees routinely shared on internal systems. TikTok called the allegations “inaccurate” and said, “It is driven by anonymous sources with predetermined objectives. ” luck
Paramount’s new three CEOs
Paramount will now be run by a three-person “CEO Office” after CEO Bob Bakish resigned on Monday. Shari Redstone, Paramount’s controlling shareholder, believes Bakish was not aggressive enough in pursuing deals with media companies. Paramount, which is currently in merger talks with Skydance Media, reported a quarterly net loss of $554 million during an earnings call that took less than 10 minutes on Monday. new york times
around the water cooler
Elon Musk publicly ditched California for Texas — now Golden State customers are retaliating and ditching Tesla in droves. Written by Amanda Gelt
Recap of the no-win price war between the EU and China’s EVs: BYD cars are 11 times more profitable in Europe and China Written by Ryan Hogg
Why SBF goes against A-list FTX boosters like Tom Brady and Larry David, and what happens to them Written by Niamh Rowe
Ryanair’s Michael O’Leary, who is due for a $108 million bonus, doesn’t see the CEO’s high pay as a problem: “Football players get paid $500,000 a week.” Written by Pratana Prakash
MedMen’s spectacular collapse complete: Just six years after earning a whopping $3 billion valuation, the once darling of legal cannabis declares bankruptcy Written by Dylan Sloan
THis edition of CEO Daily is curated by Nicholas Gordon.
This is the web version of CEO Daily, a newsletter with must-read insights from Fortune CEO Alan Murray. Sign up to get it delivered to your inbox for free.
