Kickstart: 'Private sector' model or 'undermining' the objective?

Environmental groups aren't happy with the choice for the corporate sponsor of the 27th Annual United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP27) next month in Egypt: Coca-Cola Co.

Egypt's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ambassador Achraf Ibrahim, general coordinator of COP27, taking place in Sharm-El-Sheikh, said in a statement that the sponsorship highlights the "major role played by the international private sector in promoting sustainable business models and supporting the agreed climate goals."

But groups such as Greenpeace were quick to point out that Coca-Cola is a top user of single-use plastics.

"Coca-Cola produces 120 billion throwaway plastic bottles a year — and 99 percent of plastics are made from fossil fuels, worsening both the plastic and climate crisis," Greenpeace USA Oceans Campaign Director John Hocevar said in a news release.

"They have yet to even acknowledge that this is a problem or explain how they will meet their climate goals without ending their plastic addiction," he said. "This partnership undermines the very objective of the event it seeks to sponsor."

For several decades, we've had the Bechdel-Wallace test to measure female representation in media.

Now, an environmental group is launching a similar test for measuring the portrayal of single-use plastics in media and hopes it will catch on in the same way.

The Begley-Cohen test — named for actor Ed Begley Jr. and Dianna Cohen, co-founder and CEO of the Plastic Pollution Coalition — has a few simple rules.

One, single-use plastics should not appear on screen and should be replaced by reusable, refillable or packaging-free options, and two, if single-use plastics appear, they should be "portrayed or discussed as problematic," the PPC said.

The test is an offshoot of the group's Flip the Script on Plastics campaign, which it launched last year to try to get Hollywood talking about how single-use plastics are shown in media.

I wonder, if the test catches on, would it prompt the industry to push for TV shows to work in plot points on packaging and food waste?

But if you can step back, I think the Begley-Cohen test can be seen as a push for less consumption. It's not advocating the plastics be replaced by single-use paper or metal packaging.

Rather, it seems like it's pushing for media to portray packaging differently, giving prominence to reusable and refillable choices instead of single-use.

(Thanks to PN's Steve Toloken for this item.)

Wisconsin Plastics Inc. is marking its 50th anniversary by announcing plans to double the size of its main manufacturing plant by late 2023 in Green Bay, Wis.

The company began as a small plating operation in 1972 then added plastics 10 years later when founder Jim Christensen Sr. saw an opportunity for growth.

"We've grown to where we are today by staying on top of trends, keeping everything under one roof and driving as much efficiency into our processes as possible," says his son, Jim Christensen, who is now president of WPI.

The coming expansion will allow Wisconsin Plastics to bring more of its core competencies in-house and accelerate speed to market for customers, the company said.