 Good afternoon everyone and welcome to this press conference from the 47th annual meeting of the world economic forum here in snowy Davos Welcome here in the room welcome on the live stream and a warm welcome to our wonderful panelists here today. I Think every Davos even though my colleagues might hope Otherwise will be remembered for two or three strong messages coming coming out from from here from the week here in the mountains in The Swiss mountains and last year that was for sure the fourth industrial revolution But it was also a report that was launched by the Ellen MacArthur foundation And the tagline that really was was picked up by media a lot and discussed on social media was if we don't change our ways by 2030 we will have more plastic than fish in the ocean So I'm very glad that we can actually come back to that very important topic with this press conference today Which is dedicated to the question again more plastics in the ocean than fish, but we're looking forward and asking What's the solution and? To answer that we have a wonderful panel here today Let me quickly introduce my fellow panelists to my immediate left We're joined by Andrew Morley the chief executive officer of the Ellen MacArthur foundation based in the United Kingdom Right in the center of our panel we're joined by Virginie Elias the global sustainability Sustainability director of Procter and Gamble next to her we're joined by Tom Zaki Who's the founder and chief executive officer of Terra cycle? He's also a Schwab foundation social entrepreneur of the forum So part of a very interesting community there and last but not least We are joined by Jean Marc Bousier the group senior executive vice president for recycling and waste recovery of sues The organizations of my panelists already give a little bit away What we will announce today, but let me first Give the floor to Andrew and give us an update please Andrew on the work of the Ellen MacArthur foundation I know you've been working on the issue continuously over the year. Maybe you can give us some updates there, please Thank you. Yes, as you mentioned last year. We released the new plastics economy a report Which was really about rethinking our plastics packaging globally and what we showed in that report really for the first time is that? globally Despite 40 years of effort to focus on recycling We currently only collect 14% of plastics for recycling and we lose a significant amount of that through the recycling process So only 2% of that goes back into the value chain for reuse To date and at the same time we also have roughly one-third of all global plastics packaging Leaking into the natural environment. So as mentioned by 2030 we were we are on track 2050 In fact, we will on track to have more ocean more plastics in the ocean than fish by weight What we've done since that release of the report is to launch an initiative to implement the findings of the report We have been supported very strongly by a group of philanthropic organizations and a number of corporate partners To put in place an implementation Initiative called the new plastics economy initiative We have a set of core corporate partners including Ampcore coca-cola Danone Mars, Novamond, Unilever and Viola and Additional 40 companies across the the value chain from polymers packaging manufacturers brands cities governments and collecting sorting and reprocessing companies What we've also done is a significant amount of additional analysis on this topic and this week We've released a follow-up report and we've in that plan Outlined a very clear in that report. We've outlined a very clear plan For starting to shift the system towards a much better outcome And we have managed to get the endorsement of 40 CEOs and senior executives For that plan and it clearly outlines a pathway forward That will allow us to shift from that 14 percent number. I mentioned earlier to a 70 percent Recycling of the plastics packaging as we see it today The further 30 percent that isn't in that group needs to be fundamentally redesigned Today, it's not economic to collect sort of reprocess and we've launched an additional initiative Focused on innovation in that 30 percent Which we will be launching and announcing during the year for a series of global challenges and innovation initiatives Today we're joined here as mentioned by prof Deuk Gamble sewers and Terra cycle who are all part of the new plastics economy initiative and We've got a discussion that they're going to Carry on which is really about an initiative that is essentially complementary to the new plastics economy initiative really reinforcing the importance of recycling and raising the awareness of the issue of Plastics in the ocean Ultimately, we need to move upstream. We need to stop plastics getting in the ocean From the get-go and that's what the new plastics economy initiative is is focused on and I'll pass across I think to have a discussion Thank you. Thank you. Virginia You obviously listened quite carefully last year to the report that was launched here Because as in the discussions we had in the run up to Davos I learned that this this report really Kind of kicked off a process at at PNG. Please share with us What? Where do we stand now on this process and what what can you announce today? Yes, absolutely. It has been great inspiration for us. So PNG serves Nearly five billion people around the world and we see it as our responsibility to create a world where Seven nine million people can leave while within the boundaries of the planet So PNG is rising to the challenge of sustainable consumption and the circular economy and let me tell you how So first we are announcing that through head and shoulders the world number one shampoo brand We will create the world first recyclable shampoo bottle made with beach plastic So this is a first for the hair care industry and it will come to France this summer in a limited edition in the Carrefour outlet and Thanks to the partnership with Terra cycle and Suez We are able to make the largest production run of its kind and a first step in in establishing a Very unique supply chain, so they will tell you more about that But for now, let me show you the bottle So this is the bottle as You can see or as you will see We are making it very clear that it is made from recycled plastic from the beach And this is really to let people know that they can be part of the solution by purchasing head and shoulders and Secondly, we are very proud to announce today that more than half a billion bottles each year Will include up to 25 percent post-consumer recycled plastic by the end of 2018 This represents about More than 90 percent of all the bottles that we sell in Europe across our hair care portfolio Beyond brands like head and shoulders, but also pontine and just to give you an idea of the scale This will require 2600 metric tons of post-consumer recycled plastic imagine the weight of 8 fully loaded 747 jumbo jets Thank you. Thank you very much Tom You'll forgive me if I say you look a little bit like the ancient Greek Poseidon just just coming from the ocean So let's let's talk a little bit about Where this plastic comes from in more detail because you'll your role in this partnership I understand is In part the collection of the of the plastics, so I see you've also brought us some something Please the floor is yours. Thank you and thank you to my colleagues on on the panel first I just want to echo that it's because of groups like the Ellen MacArthur Foundation that put out its challenges and also Explain how we have to look at this in a completely multi-stakeholder fashion that world's first and really meaningful projects like this can exist TerraCycle is a younger company and we operate all over the world trying to make things that are non recyclable recyclable I think it's important to take a step back and just think about as my colleague from Ellen MacArthur Foundation said There's a huge challenge today in plastics in that very little today is actually recovered and recycled and if you think about in the ocean and marine Plastic 25% of all the plastic today that is consumed ends up in the marine systems that could be in rivers lakes oceans And then eventually washed up on beaches and so on the material looks like this This is literally Examples of what goes into this world's first shampoo bottle that we see so in fact this turns into This now how does that all come together? TerraCycle across Europe has engaged with hundreds of various nonprofit organizations and other groups who clean up waterways like rivers beaches Oceans harbors lakes and so on all this material Instead of now being thrown out is being collected by TerraCycle and through our collaboration with Suez and some quite incredible science We're able to take this completely mixed material and turn it into a very high performance Polymer that can then be introduced at 25 percent into a bottle like this Now this may seem simple on the surface, but making a bottle that can be squeezed Something that can really last on shelf and be something that the world's most important shampoo brand can be proud of is actually quite a Tremendous amount of science involved the Exciting thing here is that this project is something that is really just the very beginning of where this entire Beach plastic initiative will go And I think that it's also something that while there are some large organizations that made it happen at this scale And really the largest scale the world has ever seen in the world of marine plastics is that? Consumers can be very directly involved consumers can help support the project by supporting products like this that do Big steps in the right direction, but they can also go further. This is the first shampoo bottle Made from beach plastic that can then be locally recycled in your local recycling system So consumers can also be a part of it by then making sure this doesn't end up as litter or anywhere else and can be recycled to Go around yet again, and I think there's a third part that's very exciting Is consumers can be involved by joining their local clean-up efforts and helping to actually make more of these bottles And when can you actually be involved in the supply chain like that and the final thing? I want to say that's really inspiring to me is if you are ahead and shoulders consumer you probably know that the normal bottle is bright white and usually companies Are a little conservative When using recycled materials to move away from iconic colors and as you can see here what makes me really proud of the fact that this bottle is a gray color is that here Procter and Gamble has chosen to Not resist the differences in in recycled materials, but in fact embrace it and be tremendously proud of it And that is actually very brave and a very big thing to do that other companies have not done so far So I hope that this not only is something that we can do together here, but inspires other organizations to take up the the The new plastic economy work that the Ellen MacArthur Foundation has put forward and make steps like this Because that's the only way that we can really wake up in a world where we are not going to be Suffocating the fish and all the marine life with the plastic we choose to put into our oceans and waterways. Thank you Thank you, Tom. So mark. Let's move further down the panel, but also down the value chain Suez is the recycling company. So once Tom has done his work You come into play. Please share with us. What's your role in this partnership? Yes, exactly Tom. Hello, everyone It's my great pleasure to be with you today and to be with Procter and Gamble and with TerraCycle for this new event As you know, Suez is ready for the reverse the resource revolution We don't believe waste. This is the end of the world and we are there to turn waste into secondary raw material or energy In this particular case, we are not only protecting the environment This is our duty as an environmental company, but we are also there to turn waste into a new product We have invested long ago into the plastic recovery within the Suez We've got nine dedicated units and we are able to collect to sort 350,000 tons of plastic and to recycle that into high quality polymer And now we are able to produce secondary polymer which have the same value the same quality as virgin one with the comparable prices Which is an innovation We are specialized in high density polyethylene low density polyethylene PET and polypropylene and in this case We are turning beach plastic as you have seen with Tom into high quality polyethylene Once the plastic has been collected by TerraCycle. We are shredding it. We are washing it We are making flakes and then we are making granulates through Technical and chemical product called extrusion and we are turning that into granulate that will become a bottle And all of that will be done in our most modern unit called QCP for quality secular polymer in Maastricht in the Netherlands. So we are very proud of it This is the beginning of an adventure as you have listened from Tom and from Virginie the commitment of Procter and Gamble in this case is very clear We are going progressively to increase the quantity of recycled plastic that will be used in not only shampoo bottles But on all type of packaging we have now all the technical expertise within Suez to make it possible So this is the beginning of a new area, and we are very proud to be part of it Thank you. Thank you. Tom. Let me get back to you Maybe explain for our viewers online How exactly does the collection take place because we're talking about a huge number and Virginie mentioned the metric tons here. So how does it what what does actually happen there? Yes, absolutely So the way this comes to life is people out there various organizations Folks who are cleaning up beaches and waterways are going out there and cleaning up all this material from Water systems that are washing up on on beaches and riverfronts and so on It's an incredibly cumbersome process because you're taking pieces. It's really a litter prevention exercise And then when these volumes are Collected all this garbage is collected Terra cycle at no cost picks it up from all these locations across Europe. It goes to Regional warehouses of ours where from there once it's all been collected and put together We do some manual sortation because you can imagine something that's been floating in the ocean and then later washed up On the beach will be covered with seaweed. There'll be all sorts of strange things That make it actually the real reason that ocean plastics are not just a problem Let's be clear. It's a tremendous crisis of how much material is out there and then from there after We receive it and we've sorted out these contaminants as John Mark said it gets shredded And then we clean off other things that may be there like microbes Sand and so on The the a large percentage of what we collect about over 50% of all this material is HDPE because HDPE Which is what makes up this bottle actually floats so it's that's why it comes out in a relatively high percentage but another very exciting thing I want to mention is Almost half of the material is different types of plastic and this is where I'm really Excited about the partnership with PNG and Suez is that all that other material is also going to be recycled into other things like plastic Benches and picnic tables that will then be donated back to shoreline communities So a hundred percent everything that is being collected is now not ending up in disposal systems or is litter But is now being made into this bottle and then other things that will help complete the recycling loop And I just want to say to anyone watching today When you do find this bottle on your shelves and hopefully you choose to support the product Please make sure to recycle it because it's one of the exciting things about waste I mean waste is a generally horrendous thing But luckily it's one of these environmental topics that we as consumers can do something about We can do something by supporting the products that are made out of recycled material and can be recycled and not supporting the ones that are not and We can then do our part by recycling it other environmental issues are much harder for individuals to play a very big part And I can say if we do this then major organizations like PNG But many others who are not at this table today will listen and will change their their process to echo what consumers want But inversely if as consumers we shop blindly That's like going to the voting pool every four years and voting without even looking at who's on the ballot And we know what happens when we make poor voting choices Thank You Tom that went that went not just to the beach but over the ocean I guess but Virginia. Let me come back to you Tom mentioned that it's quite uncommon for a company to Accept the gray color here because it I mean I when I wash my hair in the morning I still have my eyes closed But I I do see his point that a white bottle is more attractive for hair care in the beauty product So what in the hell made you? Accept the gray bottle Well, it's very important for us to create the awareness So so this color shows that something is different and make people It has a lot of stopping power, you know in the in the store. So it will make people Stop and ask what is that about and and actually on the bottle on the front of the bottle on the back of the bottle There are many explanation They can actually go back to with the website and have the story behind it So well and and you have also the type of item that has been collected, you know in the logo here So it's To raise consumer awareness so that as Tom was saying they get inspired to do more and they get inspired So they first do their bid by purchasing the bottle and then they do their bid by recycling it and they learn more about it so it's really a way to highlight the opportunity that we have on our recycling system, which is today not optimal and Making sure that Consumers can be do their part in the whole system. Thank you very much Andrew When you launched the first report last year, it was like so many things in 2016 not very upbeat Now if you hear of this partnership Are you more optimistic than you were a year ago that we can with the new plastics economy solve or find a solution for this for this challenge well, I think that The report that came out last year was fairly groundbreaking because for the first time I Gave a view of the flows of plastics globally and the extent of the leakage of the system today As I mentioned in the opening comments I think that initiatives like this are really very important in raising awareness and I think that the The the consumers understanding of the magnitude of the challenge is important, but ultimately These types of initiatives are end-of-pipe initiatives. They're treating the symptom not the cause and new plastics economy is aim is really to fundamentally address the cause of the issue and to Redesign and rethink packaging so move to much more towards reuse Move much more to taking the fractions of plastics out that will never be recyclable out of the system And what what is really encouraging? I think over the last year as we've seen a tremendous engagement of companies and Organizations around this topic governments and cities really working together to understand. How do we find ways of addressing the root cause and What we can see is that we've got other initiatives out there Unilever announced the other day that they are shifting to 100% recyclable packaging by 2025 Which is a very fundamental upstream redesign agenda and it and these are quite complementary because we need multiple company initiatives We need multiple Multiple platforms working on this We're releasing tomorrow a circular design guide with IDEO which is aimed to help the design community Understand the issue much more in much more detail so they can participate in the redesign of plastics packaging solutions so whether it is reusable cartridges or the Use of materials that are much more valuable at the end of use So they will be collected and they will be able to be Sorted and recycled at much much higher rates and and the level of engagement and the fact we've got the endorsement of the 40 plus CEOs and executives to this agenda I think it's hugely encouraging and I think we're going to see over the course of this year with the innovation challenge Launches and other companies coming forward Many many organizations starting to move much more upstream to address this root cause problem So a lot of great costs for optimism there. Well, I think so and it's a we look We like to characterize this is as an opportunity because what we're seeing is that the rethinking of packaging to meet customers needs better to think about you know reuse of Packages and and the concentrates that you can drop into a package making it easier for customers to shop and to carry things home We get not only benefits in terms of plastics reuse, but the carbon miles the energy, etc The water reduction so all of these things. I think are coming together and we're learning Collectively that this is a systems challenge not an individual company product change challenge and and I think that learning is Growing very rapidly and and I think there's a lot of cause for encouragement actually great. Thank you Andrew Jean-Marc, I think you wanted to answer that one Yes, I would like to to rebound on the comment of Andrew and I would like Sincerely to thank Andrew for his hard work and I would like to thank the Ellen MacArthur Foundation Because you have been really inspirational over the last few years in creating this new plastic economy As you know within Suez, we are totally convinced I am convinced that the force Industrial revolution will not only be digital, but it will also be around the resource and the reutilization of goods The European Commission is also totally convinced about it because as you know in the new economy package We have an objective which is to recycle 75% of all packaging including the plastic one by 2030 Versus around 50% today, so there is a huge gap that all together we need to go over They are very clear push measures the question was around are they sufficient demands In order for us in Europe to reutilize all those plastic And to create jobs and to protect the environment I just would like to give you an additional one or two figures each time we are recycling one ton of plastic We are saving five barrels of oil Which is very significant and in order to produce those plastic We are using 90% less energy than to produce virgin ones a final number and I will stop with that Each time we are producing one ton. We are saving 1.6 ton of CO2. So it's good for the environment It's good for the protection of the environment is good for the business We are going to create jobs So the question was is there sufficient demand and the fact that we are only here today means that big names like Protangable are taking significant step forward and like Andrew. I am very positive for the future indeed Jomak, let me follow up on that You mentioned the role of the European Commission Usually business leaders come to Davos and they have one or two Demands or wishes for the assembled public sector representatives here and the forum is a platform for public private sector Collaboration so maybe you but also Virginia to you What are the things that you're missing from from the public sector from governments that could support or make it easier for these For these projects anything you have on your mind that keeps you up at night There are a few of what we call pool measures that we need to adopt very rapidly in order to ease this secondary resource market The first one is a clear labeling We need to know if I am an individual if I am a consumer I want to know whether or not my packaging is not only recyclable But effectively recycled and the fact that PNG is so proud in showing that this comes from plastic beach Might help me deciding I want to use this product because as an individual I want to be part of it And I want to protect the environment the second to pick is around the green public procurement Local governments and central government. They need to push for measures in order for them also to promote secondary reuse of material The third is around the VAT. We are pushing very hard in various states to have a reduced VAT Clearly this product was already put on the market. So it has already supported the VAT So why should we have a second VAT each time there is the reuse and we need to if we were able to reduce a little bit The cost of those packaging obviously that would ease the consumer to elect for those type of product and finally No, no, please go ahead finish. I Forgot the last measure I will just build and amplify on what Jean-Marc is saying is that Today if you outside what you're seeing here that in the normal situation when consumer product companies are looking to acquire Just even not even a beach and marine plastic But just normal recycled content the biggest reason they don't buy and why a lot of our products are not today made from Recycled content let alone a high percentage of recycled content is because generally recycled material may have potentially a higher price Although, you know, we've heard from our colleagues at Suez that that is now being solved but historically that's been an issue and The quality which could be many things, but it's easy to understand that in an example of color It's very hard for example to have clear or white recycled materials. Why this bottle comes out a little bit different in color those have been reasons to say no and From an EU commission point of view, and I think this is a global answer not just a European one It's really important to create levers to be able to make it easier for organizations Who may not be as brave as the example you see here today to be able to easily procure these materials? Which means perhaps hired, you know some sort of disincentive on virgin materials and some sort of incentive on recycled materials That is critically important especially because today oil prices are low Which makes it even harder for recycled materials to compete one-to-one against virgin materials Outside that because that's not going to happen tomorrow and in places like the United States It's very unlikely for these legislations to happen at least in the next four years It's what is needed is organizations to see These case studies like what you see today with P&G and the Head and Shoulders brand and to emulate that Replicate it and I think as you see that that creates competitive momentum in the exact right direction and The message is to people watching as consumers make sure to voice your opinion by being a part of this That's not just sharing what you see, but it's also actively engaging which is supporting products That do the right thing and then being even more involved by recycling them And in this particular case help us build the next production run of this by going to your local area and participating in a beach cleanup Or a riverway cleanup Thank you very much. So mark you remember the fourth point the next political debate that we need to have collectively is around the price for carbon at 6 to 7 euro per ton it's not so so it's not sufficient to to promote objectively Recycled material versus virgin one in the case of P&PP we are able to produce Good quality polymer at the lower cost on the virgin one, but for other polymers like PET the comparison is still difficult So we believe that we need to include all the environmental externalities in the comparison between virgin and and Recycled and with a price of carbon around 30 euro that would make the difference So we are at the beginning of an area and I totally share the comment of thumb This is up to the consumers the citizens to decide whether or not they have to go They would like to go for a recycling there are two moments in your in your in your day Where you can decide to go for recycling first when you buy those products? So I recommend that you you look carefully at the labeling and you decide to go for recycling and Second when you sort at the end of your consumption. So this is the right time But we need you to promote a new era for the future. Thank you And I just said to that I think that that that there is certainly a role of the public in this topic but I think that ultimately this is an industrial design challenge and This is a challenge that the companies need to take on board It's an opportunity for innovating towards a different system And and that is what will ultimately stop plastics getting into the ocean or into the natural environment Will improve the economics of plastics post use today? There are no global standards for plastics. So anybody can produce any plastics in any format Anywhere in the world which results in a highly complex fragmented Mix of plastics post use which make it very difficult to get good quality plastics at an economic rate So the new plastics economy work is really driving to this idea of how do we converge industrially to a smaller number of plastics? a number of common standards and formats which shift the economics that make the collect sorting reprocessing much more Viable and prevent plastics from leaking into the ocean in the first place We will not we will not solve the plastics challenge. We will not solve it by beach collections alone We have to have the industry innovation and the The the redesign of the system collectively in order to do that And I think it's really important to keep this in context that this is it This is a very important thing for people to understand that it's not the public's job to fix this issue It's not up to customers to to fix that the the the industrial design challenge. It's got to be done collectively Customers have an important role to play in in in acting in a system that they can work within but it's really the industrial collaboration across companies with governments and cities from polymers packaging manufacturers brands cities collect sorting reprocessing to find a Converging model that improves the economics to prevent plastics getting into the ocean in the first instance Thank you very much. Do we have any questions from the room? If I don't see a show of hands Virginia I'd like to ask you Before we close like a double question number one is what's the biggest challenge challenge? You haven't solved yet in this in this process and number two kind of what's what's the biggest learning for you? Personally as well as a professional in that field from the process The biggest challenge actually is how do you drive this to scale and how do you drive the you know the systemic change? And I think I totally agree that it starts upstream with a design and we are working on this I mean our vision is zero ways to landfill which means first use less material then you know use more Plastic recycle plastic and make it recyclable, but it there is a great role in upstream But then you know it's the four vectors where we are very engaged not alone because we can't be engaged alone on this It's one access to collection when we work with Municipality on this then in inspiring consumer to make to recycle to make it desirable easy and rewarding So that it becomes autopilot Third is investing in the sorting technology and and we have a project with the LN Foundation on Tracer based sorting for instance and the force is creating and market and that's exactly what it does And so I think when people understand that Driving systemic change for those four things. I mean can make a significant difference and then Your second question was what what's your biggest learning from this project learning? It's really it all starts with conviction Inspiration and conviction and I think the example of the Ellen Mac Carter Foundation report that says you know if we do nothing It's gonna be more plastic than fish in the ocean was so simple and so striking that I can tell you internally It has triggered something very strong And then it's okay How can I make a difference and and you can make a difference just starting with the beach plastic just to start But it capture the you know It move from conviction to action and and we believe in in small but meaningful step You know if everybody in on all our business or 10 categories, there's something like that You know cumulatively we can make a huge difference. Thank you very much and thank you very much for watching Thank you very much for being here and a special. Thank you to all my panelists today. Thank you and goodbye