Brands Helping Solve the Global Plastic Crisis

Image: Ford GoBikes

Corporate Challenge: Managing a brand during a global crisis on the overuse of plastic.

Ironbound Strategy: Find creative ways to upcycle plastic or avoid plastic entirely. Brands that care about creating value for customers and employees, also have a responsibility to create value for society.

Ironbound Action: Michigan based Ford Motor Company recycles all of the plastic they use in their car manufacturing process, and then upcycles the plastic to use on future cars.  Since 1990, the underbody covers used in all Ford vehicles has come from their recycled plastic. Additionally, the Ford Motor Company exclusively uses 100% locally sourced renewable energy. More companies need to follow the lead of companies like Ford and become better stewards of our small planet. 

​* 9.1B tons of new plastic has been manufactured, but only 9% of it has been recycled. This is a very alarming statistic.  One million plastic bottled beverages are sold every minute globally.  In the US only 10% of consumer plastic is recycled, compared to 25% in China, and 30% in Europe.  In Denmark, the average person accumulates 4 plastic bags per year, versus an average of over 360 per person per year in the US.
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** In the last FY, Ford has increased their revenue from $156B to $160B, with a current market cap around $40B.