Upstream what? Solutions to plastic pollution

If you came home to find that your apartment was flooding, would you immediately start mopping up the water?
Probably not! That would be a futile effort without first finding out what is causing the flooding and stopping it. This is the essence of tackling the root cause of a problem — moving upstream.

In a circular economy, upstream innovation is about tracing a problem back to its root cause and tackling it there. Why deal with a pile of waste when we can prevent it from being created in the first place? Good for the environment, good for the economy: shifting just 20% of plastic packaging from single-use to reuse is an upstream innovation opportunity worth ~USD 10 billion.

Join us in this episode to explore worldwide cutting-edge upstream innovation examples to tackle plastic pollution. We will hear from Apeel, who disrupts food systems by extending the life of fruit and vegetables without any single-use plastic. Next up: Enviu will share their reuse projects and how they are tackling plastic pollution from Indonesia to The Netherlands.

[itbereich]

After coming home and seeing the home is floating, the first thing is to close the tap, but right after, cleaning up or drying the floor is necessary, because it will not go alone once the tap is closed. We need upstream innovation as well downstream solutions, we can’t tackle this problem just with the eyes in one direction.

[mattgaboury]

Great video! I represent a company called Brightmark, where we take plastic waste and turn it into renewable fuels. We would be considered a downstream solution, but I am wanting to dig into upstream innovative solutions as well. Some ideas in this video are great, and I will for sure check out the full guide. I am interested in big box retailers and brands using upstream solutions as well. It will be exciting to see what we all can achieve. Also, would love to see you speak to Alan Kay again! Can you bring him back on?

[jaginsburg]

I understand that apeel prevents fruit from drying out and oxidation, but it is also a medium. Can microbes grow on it? And if not, that’s a little concerning to… Please clarify. Thanks.

[johnkean]

Just saw Ellen's green jeep this afternoon (or a fan with her name emblazoned on the windscreen) is there a campaign here in K? Holidaying perhaps? 🤔

[johnkean]

All about saving money not about saving the planet 😏