-
Company will phase out single-use plastics in all of its 3,000-plus
agency offices and campuses worldwide by 2020 -
Signs the New Plastics Economy Global Commitment led by UN
Environment and the Ellen MacArthur Foundation -
Pledges to work with clients and partners to drive change, with
Facebook among the first to collaborate
CANNES, France–(BUSINESS WIRE)–WPP (NYSE:WPP) today announced a series of initiatives designed to
ensure it is playing its part in tackling pollution from single-use
plastics.
The company will phase out single-use plastics in its premises by the
end of the year. It will no longer buy or provide single-use plastics
such as bottles, straws, cutlery and cups in any of its 3,000-plus
agency offices and campuses worldwide. And it will make it easier for
people to recycle their own plastic materials at work.
WPP has signed the New Plastics Economy Global Commitment, led jointly
by UN Environment and the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, thereby endorsing
the vision of a circular economy for plastic in which it is designed
never to become waste or pollution. Other signatories include
Colgate-Palmolive, Danone, Johnson & Johnson, Mars, Nestlé, PepsiCo, SC
Johnson, The Coca-Cola Company and Unilever.
The company has also committed to work with partners and clients to:
inspire consumers to think differently about plastic packaging and
change their behaviour; create more sustainable approaches to product
and packaging design; and develop new systems for delivering and
recycling products. Facebook is among the first partners to collaborate;
the two companies are exploring ways to work together to harness their
collective global reach to drive action among consumers.
Today’s announcement follows a special internal WPP summit in May which
brought together people from across the company’s agencies to discuss
how to reduce the impact of plastic on the planet, from redesigning
products, packaging and experiences to creating closed-loop systems and
using communications to improve recycling rates. It also builds on
various existing initiatives within WPP agencies. To kick off the
programme, WPP will host a series of “Unpack the Problem” creative
hackathons over the summer to develop actionable ideas that help tackle
plastic pollution.
Mark Read, CEO of WPP, said: “Our industry has tremendous collective
power to bring about change for the better, but our efforts have to
begin at home. Taking the plastic out of Wire & Plastic Products by
phasing out single-use plastics in our offices is just the first step.
People expect companies to act responsibly and help them live more
sustainably, and our clients look to us to help them deliver brands with
purpose. We look forward to working with partners across the industry
and using our creativity, insight and scale to make a difference.”
Sian Sutherland, co-founder of the global movement A Plastic Planet,
said: “Plastic is a miracle material born from man’s creativity. But our
misuse of plastic has now created an environmental disaster that our
children will inherit if we don’t turn off the plastic tap fast. To have
the full creative force of WPP focused on driving change at many levels
will accelerate the pace globally. Bad design got us into this mess and
good design will get us out of it.”
About WPP
WPP is a creative transformation company. We build
better futures through an integrated offer of communications,
experience, commerce and technology. The company’s original name was
Wire & Plastic Products. For more information visit www.wpp.com.
Contacts
Niken Wresniwiro, WPP
+44 (0)20 7282 4600 / +44 (0)7876 005 489
[email protected]
