In December 2019, a Singapore-based venture capital firm called Circulate Capital launched a $106 million fund to help clean up and prevent ocean plastic pollution in Southeast Asia.
The Circulate Capital website states that there are an estimated 150 million tons of plastic currently polluting our oceans. This number increases every year and is equivalent to a garbage truck being dumped into the ocean every minute.
“The company states that they “identify, incubate, and invest in opportunities designed to intercept ocean plastic at the source by collecting, sorting, processing, and recycling waste in South and Southeast Asian countries”.”
According to studies, the top five countries of plastic pollution are all located in Asia; China, Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam, and Sri Lanka. Much of this has to do with the large populations of these countries.
As someone that currently calls Southeast Asia home, I can say that plastic is used for just about everything here. With single-use plastic bags and plastic bottles is a huge problem.
Circulate Capital is a movement that seems long overdue. They deem that they “established the world’s first investment fund dedicated to preventing ocean plastic, Circulate Capital Ocean Fund (CCOF).” This is designed to bring together private and public investors to help make a difference in our oceans.
Now that awareness has been raised, and people have public access to the ridiculously large amounts of plastic generated by large companies, they almost have no choice but to do something about it.
CCOF’s first investor was the number 3 plastic polluter PepsiCo. They were followed by the world leader in plastic pollution 2 years in a row, Coca-Cola. Other investors include Unilever, Dow, Danone, Proctor & Gamble, and Chevron Phillips Chemical.
It’s good to see that these major polluters of the world are starting to take some accountability for the global problem we all face. In my opinion, it’s unfortunate that there are no repercussions for these companies other than a blemish on their public image.
Coca-Cola reportedly invested $15 million in the CCOF fund just one month after being named top polluter for the second time in two years. The company’s vice president of communications, public affairs, and sustainability for Asia-Pacific, Matt Echols, claims this is an exciting time for the company.
“What’s exciting about that is the companies are now looking at these issues as business opportunities. Coca-Cola, for example, we no longer see this as a problem; we see it as an opportunity,” he said.
He continued by stating that Coca-Cola is committed to making 50 percent of its packaging from recycled plastic by 2030.
One can’t help but question how committed the company is. Coca-Cola’s reported net worth in 2019 was a reported $80.83 billion, so investing $15 million to help clean up ocean pollution and vow to make “50” percent of its packaging from recycled plastic within 10 years hardly proves they care at all. Especially since their announcement at the World Economic Forum, where they said they will continue to use plastic bottles.
As for the CCOF, I think the company has some good goals, which include financing recycling and upcycling opportunities. Rob Kaplan, the founder and chief executive officer at Circulate Capital, explains:
“By catalyzing capital and efforts, we can turn ocean plastic from a problem into an economic opportunity for Asia. Our goal is to advance the circular economy and cradle-to-cradle businesses by crowding-in capital for waste management and recycling solutions at scale that address the ocean plastic crisis in South and Southeast Asia.”
While the number 2 plastic polluter, Nestlé, has not invested in Circulate Capital as of this writing, Nestlé has recently stepped up to invest 2 billion dollars in 100% recyclable packaging by 2025, including using more and more recycled plastic.
We can make a difference by supporting those businesses that care for our environment.
