By Kevin Majoros
Originated by Dell Inc. and led by managing director Lonely Whale, a consortium of technology and consumer-focused companies are developing a commercial-scale ocean-bound plastics supply chain.
The initiative is called NextWave and member companies are establishing ocean-bound plastics as a commodity to decrease the volume of plastic waste before it enters the ocean. Through their principles of open-source collaboration, NextWave members are demonstrating to other manufacturers how to benefit from this new resource.
Lonely Whale facilitates the creation of innovative ideas that push the boundary on current trends in technology, media and advocacy that positively impact the health of our ocean.
NextWave members Dell Inc, Bureo, General Motors, Herman Miller, Humanscale, Interface, and Trek were joined in October of 2018 by two new members, HP Inc. and Ikea.
The introduction of the new members recognizes the importance of joining forces with other like-minded entities by extending across industries to realize maximum impact.
Expanding Ocean-Bound Plastic Supply Chains
Originally launched in 2017, the goal for NextWave was to build on Dell’s ocean-bound plastic program and bring together a cross-industry consortium of companies to scale the use of ocean-bound plastics. The addition of HP Inc. was another step in that direction.
“While HP has already demonstrated our commitment to sustainable impact by eliminating ocean-bound plastics and reusing them in our products, we firmly believe in the power of collaboration. We want to scale our collective efforts amongst industry leaders, work together to address barriers and engage others in the quest for an ocean free from plastic” says Stuart Pann, HP chief supply chain officer. “We have a responsibility to take the critical steps necessary to reduce plastic pollution. Collaboration within and between industries is one of those critical steps.”
HP reports it used 40 million pounds of recycled plastics in its products last year, according to the company’s latest sustainability report. Of that amount, 45 percent went into PC systems, 7 percent into printers, 16 percent into toner cartridges and 32 percent into ink cartridges.
NextWave Members Looking to Have More Impact
NextWave member companies are committed to having maximum impact today and currently are on track, in alignment with UN SDG 14.1, to have diverted a minimum of 25,000 tons of plastics, the equivalent to 1.2 billion single-use plastic water bottles, from entering the ocean by the end of the year 2025.
There is currently more than 86 million tons of plastic in our ocean and up to 12 million tons of new plastic will enter the ocean in the next year. Given this crisis, NextWave members are continually looking for ways to have more impact.
“The consequences of plastic pollution are severe, and IKEA is determined to contribute to its solution in a positive and proactive way. Together with other NextWave companies we will be developing a global network of ocean-bound plastics supply chains, learning from each other’s efforts and working together to ensure maximum business, community and environmental benefit,” says Lena Pripp-Kovac, Ikea sustainability manager. “Our goal is to make ocean-bound plastic a commodity for the future, and we want to take initiatives to prevent plastic from ending up in the ocean in the first place. We hope this membership will lead to new learnings and new innovations and that we can inspire other companies to follow.”
Earlier this year, IKEA announced the commitment of removing all single-use plastic products by 2020 as a step towards becoming a circular business by 2030. The aim is, according to IKEA sustainability goals, for all products and packing materials to be based on renewable and/or recycled materials, which also includes phasing out virgin fossil plastic products.
Dell is Helping to Keep Plastics out of the Ocean
According to their last corporate social responsibility report, Dell developed a new packaging tray for the Dell XPS 13 2-in-1 laptop made from a blend of recycled ocean plastics (25 percent) and other post-consumer recycled, high-density polyethylene (HDPE) plastics (75 percent). They will use the tray to protect XPS 13 2-in-1 laptop shipments. The pilot project will use 16,000 pounds of plastics collected from waterways, beaches, rivers and coastal areas.
Using ocean plastics is one example of Dell’s ongoing transition to circular economy solutions, where “waste” materials are used as inputs and kept in the economy rather than buried or destroyed.
To address this issue and build demand, they made a pledge to the United Nations to scale their annual use of ocean plastics tenfold by 2025, and to help build further demand by convening a work group with other manufacturers to create an open-source ocean plastics supply chain.
“As we’ve become more engaged in the challenges facing our ocean, it’s become increasingly clear that the solution to marine plastic pollution requires bold innovation and open collaboration,” says Kevin Brown, chief supply chain officer at Dell Technologies. “No company can solve this issue alone, and we are excited to welcome new member companies to the cause and continue to encourage others to work together to further advance NextWave’s mission and prevent even more plastic from entering the ocean.”
Lonely Whale is Inspired by the Power of Community
In early 2015, actor, filmmaker, musician and environmental activist, Adrian Grenier entered into a multi-year partnership with Dell as its Social Good Advocate. Later that year he co-founded Lonely Whale.
Right from the start Lonely Whale began promoting scalable solutions, vital education and impact campaigns that sparked global movements and created measurable impact.
Along with NextWave, their previous campaigns include Strawless in Seattle, #makeasplash, Tick Tock, #stopsucking, and Ocean Heroes Bootcamp.
“The #stopsucking campaign has shown some incredible lasting power and it is easy for people to engage with,” says Dune Ives, Executive Director of Lonely Whale. “A lot of what we do is to inspire people to lean into a cause and become engaged so that collectively we can make an impact.”
Another goal of NextWave is to benchmark plastic supply chain efforts and measure how much plastic is being utilized.
“We are really focused on developing a plastic supply chain model that others can use and put in place,” Ives says. “On the community side, we hope that more people will find a way to become involved in regard to single-use plastics.”
Stay tuned in the coming months for a new campaign from Lonely Whale related to single-use plastics.
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Kevin Majoros shares stories on sports, ocean adventuring and conservation. He is based in Baltimore/Washington and travels the world as a competitive swimmer.