 Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to this press conference from the 49th annual meeting of the World Economic Forum here in Davos It's day number three or four depending on how you count and you're joining a press conference That's dedicated to answering the question. How can we move to more sustainable consumption? It's a it's a pretty big question. It's a it's a white question So I'm very happy that we're joined by an expert panel today to try and answer that question But first of all allow me to set a little bit the context of of what we're trying to do here and To highlight that this is part of a larger work stream of the World Economic Forum as well as the partners represented here a couple of years ago We launched a report with the El MacArthur Foundation that had the snappy data point that we will very soon have more plastic than fish in the ocean and started from that We've built together with a partners represented here But also others an effort a multi-stakeholder effort to tackle these questions and to tackle that problem Let me introduce the panel to you today To my immediate left. We're joined by Tom Zaki Who's the founder and chief executive officer of Terra cycle to his left We're pleased to be joined by David Taylor who's the chairman of the board the president and the CEO of P&G Right at the heart and center of our panel here today We're joined by Ramon Laguarta the chairman elect and chief executive officer of PepsiCo To his immediate left. We're joined by James Rogers Who's the founder and chief executive officer of appeal sciences and last but definitely not least today? We're joined by Jennifer Morgan who's the executive director of Greenpeace. Thank you all for being here today Thank you for being in the room and thank you for watching whether you're watching on Twitter Facebook or Our website. We're very happy that you're that you tuned in Tom Let's let's kick it off with you. So Terra cycle has a motto and it's eliminating waste That's a pretty ambitious statement I know it's a rich coming from the forum seeing where our motto is improving the state of the world, but still It's an ambitious motto How can that be possible? It's a great question. It's a real privilege to privilege to be here And what Terra cycle does to try to eliminate the idea of waste is first try to look at making the objects we use today Recyclable we do this nationally across 21 countries everything from diaper recycling and partnership with brands like Pampers All the way to chip bag or crisp bag recycling with brands like walkers across the UK So we try to make things that today don't have an option to be recycled The second thing we try to do is try to have organizations integrate as much recycled material back into their products Absolutely possible two years ago on this stage. We launched the world's first shampoo bottle made 25 percent from ocean plastic And that has grown phenomenally with our partners at Procter and Gamble And these goals what we have a Terra cycle in a humble way echo the Amazing and I think really inspiring commitments that organizations like the ones to my left But many others have made with the Allen MacArthur Foundation to make their packaging Recyclable and from very large percentages of recycled content in the coming years Now two years ago with a small group of organizations Led by Procter and Gamble PepsiCo Nestle Unilever Mars and Carrefour We asked the question is recycling and making from recycled materials the only way to solve waste and We tried to create or think about some alternatives to solve waste at the root cause to challenge the idea of single use and That is how the loop Alliance was born which I'm incredibly thrilled to be unveiling here today To you all which is about offering an alternative to disposability by shifting ownership of the everyday products we buy from the consumer To the manufacturer and by shifting ownership three amazing things happen Allowing durable design to take place the first is products move from being disposable Where the very best option is recycling to durable where the key method of Cycling it is reuse second it allows for unbelievable design innovation To come to life using beautiful materials some alloys to glass to engineered plastics and also even allows new features To be put into products that were never possible before Like with Nestle in their hug and dust container. It keeps your ice cream frozen on the go something It was never possible before but this type of work can only occur when all the stakeholders come together major Producers retailers even industrial companies like UPS and Sue as all taking part to help bring this option to consumers And now that this is available I think the key is for those out there listening is to vote with your dollar For the future you want because you know we vote multiple times a day with actual money on What we want to live in tomorrow and I think if consumers take that really you know that? Responsibility seriously we can wake up in a much better place. Thank you Thank You Tom David you looked at Tom's ideas, and you obviously decided it's not completely crazy to achieve that so At PNG you've been an early supporter of the efforts here on the platform of the World Economic Forum share your perspective What do you think? Which criteria does Tom which criteria does he need to fit to? To make you believe that this is possible first Tom has a lot of great ideas And we've partnered with him before in his company and frankly It's bringing very innovative solutions to address very difficult problems that we have in society So it's a pleasure again to be working along with many other fine companies and organizations Because the truth is as Tom said this is going to take multi stakeholders to address We've been working for years looking at many different solutions. We're committed to Changing whether it's our design or working on solutions like loop with durable solutions or recycling solutions All of those are going to be important is we think about this one It's exciting in many ways and there's some challenges So we've got a test to test that will be going initially In New York and Paris because what we have to learn is any changing consumer behavior required But we're going to set it up in a way where we think it can be convenient and affordable For consumers to take charge of this and then give back the packaging so it can be sanitized and then return to them So to me this offers some amazing opportunities To eliminate waste in the environment and to delight the consumer and as Tom said it opens up some additional Performance options for the consumers to experience. So I do believe this is addressable But we're going to learn the reason we want to get out there is we're going to learn about the business model We're going to learn about the consumer reaction of this and from that We can pivot and then find Solutions that last because ultimately it's going to take many different efforts across many different Avenues for us to address plastic in the environment Thank You David Roman just like David you run a company That is has been engaged on the platform, but that is also kind of a crucial part of any solution. So David mentioned some some pilot projects in Paris in New York What's your sense of the timeline? How quickly can we get to a point where we can answer answer the question of this press conference and say we moved a Good step towards more sustainable consumption First of all, it's pretty exciting There were this an idea that we thought about it Whatever two years ago, I think it was and we started to think about it brought it to reality And today we're launching to all of you thanks to you know a lot of stakeholders So it and so the ideation and the you know, we had to engage retailers It was his long process now as David was saying I think the the challenge here will be The business model and the consumer reaction the consumer behavior to all of these I think we've given consumers a lot of convenience with plastic so a lot of functionality at a low price and that's made consumers life very easy now We need to understand what are the Reactions of consumers to solutions that might require a bit more effort on their side and a bit more cost And that might take time and we will like like any innovation any new business model We're gonna trial and error. We're gonna have to adjust as we go and we're gonna have to be agile in providing new solutions But we see this as a set of solutions like if you think about PepsiCo We're on the one hand trying to reduce the plastic we use in all designs and and you know We have some good innovations coming our way in that area Thinking about recycling and thinking about reinventing and their invention is where you know this loop Exciting project falls in we we just bought saw the stream a few months ago That's another experiment that we have where within new business models can help us solve for for a bigger problem So I don't know the timeline but we're putting a lot of resources a lot of Good commercial people good marketing people to really understand what are the barriers from consumer point of view What are the economics of this model and how we can make it? Convenient yet affordable, which I think is the it's gonna be the sweet spot of the solution Thank you very much James. Tom is not the only person on this panel who tries to put crazy ideas into action To make this work. Tell us a little bit about what you do at appeal and and how it can help to redefine How we think about packaging and consumption today. Yeah, you know at appeal We believe that the solutions that we need to sustainable consumption have already been invented by the natural world since the evolution life on this planet's been about 3.8 billion years and That trial and error cycle that nature has been Trying again and again has gotten us to the point where nature is making little little pieces It's using those pieces those pieces are going back out into the world and then they're getting re consumed and reused and recycled We believe that nature has already created the perfect packaging when plants evolved out of water and onto land The adaptation that allowed them to do that was the formation of this thin plant skin and that skin has been so important It's been conserved between species. So every single surface of a plant is covered by its own little packaging Material and we're just at a point now in human development where we have the ability and the tools to go look into the natural world to Identify exactly those building blocks that nature is using Extract and isolate those materials and use them to create solutions that don't cause problems when we reintroduce them to the world I'm so at appeal we develop plant-based solutions That allow us to extend the shelf life of fresh produce to start with without the use of refrigeration and without the use of plastics and By doing this we're able to you know today We're using about 80 percent of our fresh water to irrigate third of our energy production for agriculture About 25 percent of our greenhouse gas emissions and about five billion pounds of pesticides to produce food And then we're estimates are we're throwing away about half of that And so what we do is by taking these materials out of the natural world use them to augment the natural protective barrier That's on the skin of fresh fruits and vegetables We can reduce the rate that those fruits spoil And in so doing we can be better stewards of the natural environment and do it by using materials Which nature already has the perfect recycling system for? Thank You James Jennifer We heard this week already from both the youngest and the oldest participant of this annual meeting from Sir David Attenborough from Greater Thunberg How urgent action on these questions is and you yourself made it very clear that we're facing a Problem and challenges of vast proportions. There's a lot of excitement from your fellow panelists Let's hear your perspective on the issue and what do you think needs to happen next? Well, thanks, and it's good to be part of part of the panel and having watched the loop alliance and other efforts along the way To have a chance to Interact a bit here. I mean, I think just to start the Urgency around the the science of climate change and certainly consumption The use of plastics our throwaway culture Is something that I think the youth and the elders of the world are Basically coming in to Davos as strongly as they can and bringing every bit of their heart and soul To ask people to dig deep and to make individual Commitments to stable oh one point five degrees and this discussion is part of that And so I hope that everyone here on the panel will take great as pledge Which she asked which was to do everything that every person here can do to? stable oh one point five and that includes engaging in political debates domestically which can be very challenging but are absolutely Important and I think what we feel at Greenpeace is that really the conversations this week should be on a shared recognition that our Current economic system which is based on this endless consumption the Disposibility and the ongoing extraction of fossil fuels is broken and it just can't continue this way We have to do things differently and better so Greenpeace supports the intention behind these efforts that we've heard about today by the corporate sector But we actually also and and I heard Ramon mention this but we call on every company to take action in their own businesses to reduce Production of single-use plastic. We cannot recycle our way out of this problem So the reduction is absolutely important. We also welcome the continued investment And innovation in this space. We have to make sure that when we try something else We don't create new problems, but I think we all know that So I think that's very important and I think the vision behind These initiatives were hearing really point to the importance of a comprehensive Systems change that's required to build a sustainable and equitable future. So the innovation the reduction but also Different systems of how to refill how to reuse in ways that may seem old-fashioned to some But we need to either bring back and make possible and I think having that be a big part of this is important So we see that but at the same time we actually see that many businesses behind these initiatives and others are Expanding their production of single-use plastic and they're looking to grow in markets that simply can't take more Plastic right and so I think having that global perspective setting these global reduction targets is very important I'm very glad you brought food Into the conversation because you know a third of food produced is is not consumed And I think plastic packaging is sometimes heralded as this means of avoiding food waste But it hasn't according to new studies Provided that kind of comprehensive solution So growth in the application of plastic packaging is actually increased along that growth of food waste So we need different approaches there that's clear And so I think just in clothing in closing It's it's very important that the loop alliance and other efforts To create these new business models are matched by Immediate and urgent action from the companies to reduce the production of single-use plastics There's a directive coming in in the European Union We think those should be backed by national targets as well. We call on all the companies here to support Those types of national reduction targets and everyone here has an important role to fill and I think without that Kind of individual company commitments and moving forward and signaling that engaging in in national political and international political debates There's a real risk that projects like this become a bit of a distracting side show to generate positive PR and While major companies continue business as usual So prove me wrong on that one Thank you. Thank you, Jennifer and Ramon David, let me give you a chance to become really unpopular with your fellow business leaders here here in Davos I'm you're obviously here. You're showing your commitment. You acknowledge the challenges And we've seen on media coverage and social media about the summit that climate pollution Biodiversity these issues are at the absolute forefront of everybody's mind And do you get the sense from your fellow CEOs here in Davos that this message has reached their thinking? Yes, I just came out of a forum with a number of Members of the consumer industry both retailers and manufacturers and the discussion was very much on these points the fact that We had to work together With other stakeholders to not only work the design and it needs to go all the way in the front end of innovation We need to be looking at ways to meet the consumers need that does use less plastic We also need to look at ways for that which requires plastic now to we can invent something else that it is recycled And we need to look at solutions like this and be ready to lend technology and financial support To these kind of pilots to find solutions a durable solution Would be an outstanding way to meet consumers needs and there will be some areas where we may not be able to use that I think there's gonna be many solutions What is to me very encouraging is Representatives across the whole value chain are willing to put their technology and resources financial and leadership To start to work on some of these and many have come up just in the last two years The dialogue has changed and you're seeing companies step up and want to partner with NGOs and municipalities To try new solutions, so I'm encouraged and I think the one here today Loop is just a great illustration because it pushes it even further. It's not about recycling It's about getting it where it's a durable and you can create a truly a truly Circular system and done well It'll be as convenient and it'll be as affordable and it'll be better performance of the products The experience will be a positive experience and it will be one that it significantly reduces the environmental footprint of the total process So I'm actually very excited about this and I do believe members of the industry see the compelling need To work together to find solutions across many different many different ways Thank you Roman you want to add to that? We've been in many meetings with David this week actually and I See two two areas of work that I think make me very positive. I think David very positive one is if you think about this on a vertical level Every company if you compare with last year or two years ago Clearly the the share of conversations around plastics the share of investments the The willingness to reduce plastic in each one of our companies and the areas we control is very clear So we're all making commitments. There's a reduction and the use of recyclable So on the vertical side, I think all the large companies are very committed now on the horizontal side That's what makes me really positive We and we've made a lot of traction in the last last six months on how we bring the overall supply chain to the table so this is from The chemist the chemical companies that produce the the plastic to the big brand companies to the recycling companies To the governments to NGOs I think there's a lot of forums that there's not only conversations, but their actual actions being Defined with very concrete outputs and timelines and investments behind them So I think there's there's a lot of traction both on the vertical side horizontal side Because we all agree that this is not a heroic performance by any of the companies We cannot nobody of us can solve this by by one heroic effort It has to be a very systemic effort to to reduce plastics and and we all have a similar vision Which is make sure that plastic does not go to waste So I mean that that is the vision and we all articulate it in different ways, but that's the same principle. So I Think we're in a very good Very good place this what we're presenting to you today is one example of Multiple efforts in in the area of innovation and and I think innovation will will help us with new materials He will help us with new business models. He will help us with consumer education So hopefully we can we can make it happen. Thank you. And let's open the floor for question and answers We have a microphone here We have a question from the lady in the front if you could identify yourself for the sake of our online audience, please. Thank you Hello, thank you. I'm Julie Joe from iphone.com China I would like to ask for the panelists about your perspective on China's refusing to be a dumping ground since last year Because they banned 24 scraps of waste to you know from the developed countries Including you as Japan and you so what's what's your view on it? And what's the solution if China refused to do that? Is it just moving the waste from one country to the other country or do you have any better? Option, thank you very much. Thank you very much. So the question I guess makes this discussion even more urgent Who wants to to take a step exactly what we're talking about today is an example of a solution Which is what you want is less waste and less waste will come from multiple solutions Whether it's loop which is a durable closed loop circuit or system, which I think is outstanding Whether it's technologies that can be brought to bear and we've got an example of polypropylene that may be Contaminated you can take back and the technology that turns it to near virgin quality So then it's of higher value. So it could be recycled and you could have a system where it generates the revenue to pay for the collection Do we want to have more know what we want to do is have a variety of solutions where it can be durable? Outstanding let's go learn and create their solutions where there's a With the best right now solution until we develop new technology is in some form of plastic Ensure that the plastic can be recycled and make sure there is a total system a recycling capability and a value chain That pays for the cost to collect and process it All of these things I think will be part of the solution and then we all have to see where you shop plastic What you want to do is eliminate completely plastic in the environment What is the vision? No plastic in the environment in and ideally we find solutions like loop Which is an example where you're not putting anything it back in because the durable that's used for the packaging When it does become damaged not usable. It's fully recyclable and you can turn it back into another durable So that's a that's to be a great example of an option, but I think what we need to do is avoid moving things around Let's get at the core cause starting with design, but then while we do that. Let's find solutions to deal with what we have today as well Thank You Jennifer. Do you want to add to that place? Yeah? I actually think I Understand completely why China did what it did and I'm grateful that it has exposed The situation because I can tell you if you look in for example German newspapers that are now covering this issue extensively Most of the good German citizens who recycle have no idea that there is a recycling trade and that what they do Gets shipped abroad so I think exposing that is incredibly important But I want to come back to this Reduction piece because I don't feel like we're all on the same page there yet. We have to have peak plastic Get your heads around that we can't recycle our way out of this and and I don't hear a lot about the role of Governments here and the role of directives and regulation and banning things right and there is on the European level the beginnings of something there, but I think the getting that you know You know David the technology. Yes, but if we don't actually Start immediately getting this stuff reducing right so getting So this PNG committing to set a reduction target of plastics across your entire supply chain I hear Pepsi is interested or looking at that You're looking at it. I want you know, that's what I think is is needed right now 6% my understanding by some calculations of the emissions from or the fossil fuel use from plastics Globally is 6% of global emissions. That's the same as aviation right so I would really like to see corporate commitments And then I think you know the then you we need to deal with it at home not be exporting it obviously elsewhere You know as we look at these Targets and and and we have two different industries right we're in the snack business and we're in the beverage business So when you think about the beverage business What we're trying to do is obviously Design the bottles so that it has the minimum amount of plastic and then moving our mix stores cans stores Glass etc. However to your point on the 1.5 degrees the equation is not so simple You know, it's very so when you start thinking about glass and Returnable glass then you say okay. Well, then I'm going to drive a lot of miles back into the factory So we're looking at all these combinations. What is the ideal combination of packaging that provides consumers? The right solutions minimize the environmental challenges not only enough from a plastic point of view from a more holistic CO2 as well when it comes to snacks it easier and we have technologies that We're gonna roll out some new technologies next year that will really reduce the amount of packaging we use per Let's say per kilo of product, right? So that's a simple category Beverage is a bit more complex First I'd like to thank you for for the advocacy because the by NGOs Advocating in the way you're hearing today, but also consumers waking up I think this year 2000 or last year 2018 the people of the world spoke out against these topics in a very clear Way we saw plastic straws Get affected around the world but we also saw this topic elevate and especially maintain and this is so important the role of the individual here because that's what allows Small organizations like ours and the other one that you've heard on stage today to be able to come out with bold innovative ideas and then especially the Organizations that have the means the knowledge and the capability to execute against them to me It's been so inspiring walking in the halls of your various offices and be taken exceptionally seriously and then major Resources being committed in a blistering pace to bring it out And I just want to echo another point that you said earlier is there's a lot of wisdom in our past You know and a lot of innovation always looks forward But I think we also have to turn and look behind us because waste is a modern idea It came about in the 50s and before that milk, you know models like the milkman did really well and loop in a way Is a reboot of the milkman and it's a little bit looking forward and looking back Because this concept of waste hasn't been with us forever. It's new it won The market because of its incredible convenience and affordability But I think with all the innovation and all the great minds and resources and commitment to it. It's definitely not just talk We can bring out models of the future and my dream is that my kids or their kids can wake up in a world where The idea of waste simply doesn't exist and we look at this time in history as what an anomaly that was and thank God We're not in it anymore Thank you very much. Let's see if we can Before we finish If you guys write a lot about loop, you will help us So, you know one of the challenges of these initiatives is how do we get consumer awareness, right? How do we get consumers to adopt this as their solution of choice for all the different products? So please write a lot about this and help us help us, you know Make it big make it especially in Paris, New York and London right like help us with this because I think we're all Together and you're part of the system as well Let's see if we have time for one quick question if there is one Yes, there's a gentleman in the back if we could get the microphone over there, please Thank you just to go back to the earlier point as big big companies and Users of plastic is it not could basically give us an idea of how much plastic you consume in your business a year And whether you can set a target a long-term target for peak plastic in your business Thank you, if you could also identify yourself for the sake of our online audience, please Sorry, I thought my name's mark mark Bendai from Reuters. Thank you mark So I think Ramon you already mentioned that you're you're looking at all these different aspects. We're looking at This is a very holistic. We don't want to just Commit ourselves to a target reduction. We're thinking of this much more holistically around the whole Environmental challenge and that includes climate and everything else. So Yes, it's doable is we have the willingness to do it and We will do it eventually The same is we have technologies and this is to me where we're gonna find great solutions an example We have something called air flex packaging for e-commerce shipments 50% less plastic while we do work on other solutions Take it down by 50% on packaging for e-commerce think about that using air and then some structured plastic It can be recycled, but you take 50% out now when you do that that's something we've been investing in So there's a number of examples I don't know the weight of all of the plastic that we have but the idea is Address the consumer need with creative solutions loop is an example air flex packaging is an example Each of these is looking at design find better ways to deliver the consumer benefit Ideally give them better benefits, but find circular solutions for those because we all want to end Live in a world with zero plastic waste I think what Thomas saying is even more broadly looking at can we eliminate waste in the environment and create circular solutions? There's a lot of energy and it is going to take multiple stakeholders bringing our technology and our financial resources and our Partnering with others that are like-minded. So I'm actually very encouraged by the progress that I've seen this week Because there's many stakeholders that are ready to really lean in beyond advocacy ready to bring technology to bear So there's concrete solutions and pilot starting this year in multiple cities on this Pilot starting this year on other solutions that reduce the plastic that's going in the environment Collectively will make a meaningful difference Jennifer, please. Yeah, just two quick points one quick the transparency Issue is actually huge. So I think another piece of this that we certainly are looking at is, you know, how our company is reporting And being transparent about what's going on so that consumers can then know And the second is just to share a quick story because as they had a green piece I have the amazing privilege of meeting our Activists and our volunteers and I sat next to a woman recently in Taiwan and she said I'm living a plastic-free life and I said wow How are you doing that and she said I have a community of 20,000 which is you know who sit and they go with Their refills they go into the night market, right? so consumers and young people want this and I think So the the flip side of that though is and will be coming more and more and I think speaking With what they want to buy and how they do that But the importance of getting the the peak plastic and the reductions and the bands Legally in place. I Don't have time much more for public-private partnerships alone We've got 12 years left on climate to avoid 1.5. So please work also to get the right policies in place Thanks. Thank you James before we close quick question to you. How difficult is it to scale these solutions? Given the the scale at least, you know, we're tackling first in the food system tremendous volumes of fresh produce being produced around the world and so You know our business is effectively that going to those regions in which we have fresh produce being produced Those regions are often widely separated from consumption regions and so we go into those regions We install our application systems which allow us to apply this plant-based technology Which allows us to reduce fuel use from refrigeration cost for transport And at the same time reduces losses in the system So ultimately we need to produce less to be able to feed the same number of people And so I would just add to this conversation that we've actually found that waste reduction is good business It doesn't the two are not separated and the world that we're living in today consumers are both looking for waste reduction and it ends up affecting the bottom line of everyone's business seated at the table here and so In it by applying this plant-based technology But by extending the shelf life of fresh produce in a natural way We've been able to reduce waste on store shelves by more than 50% in every program that we've run and that translates all the way Onto consumers countertops at home. So I just want to just close and just say that you know, I think that waste reduction Actually makes sense business-wise it not only from a policy perspective Thank you very much and I want to use this opportunity to also give a shout-out to one of our co-chairs Akira Sakano from Japan who is working with her small community to be the first Zero waste community in Japan. She already managed to get to 80% waste reduction in Japan So it is possible and on that positive note. Thank you very much to my panelists and thank you all for watching and being here