Working Together to Prevent Plastic Pollution
Decathlon has teamed up with a diverse group of industry leaders and environmental groups to address the plastic pollution crisis impacting the health of our planet. The Plastic Leak Project (PLP), co-founded by leading environmental consulting firm Quantis and ecodesign centre EA, is a multi-stakeholder initiative to develop robust metrics and help identify solutions and effective actions to reduce plastic leakage.
At Decathlon, we are already taking steps to protect the environment from harmful plastics, but we know much more can be done. We avoid using plastic bags in stores, limit packaging on all products and use recycled materials when we can (for example, using recycled water bottles to make the MH Fleeces and the Trek 100 Insulated Jacket).
It is important to continue to take steps to better protect our planet. For this reason, we joined the PLP initiative to be part of the solution, supporting robust metrics that help identify the problems and science-based actions to prevent plastic leakage.
The PLP will develop and test a metrics-driven methodology – the Life Cycle Assessment – as well as industry-specific guidance for locating and measuring plastic leakage. The Director of EA, Julien Boucher, said, “We are convinced that better metrics are needed to shape action towards closing the plastic tap and keeping our oceans clean. We hope the PLP will significantly contribute to developing these metrics both to guide company strategies and product design.”
“Today, policies, bans and decisions on plastic leakage are often based on passion and pressure rather than science. How can we navigate the buzz to find science-based solutions? We truly believe that businesses are effective at influencing change,” says Laura Peano, Senior Sustainability Consultant and project manager of the Plastic Leak Project. “We also know, from years of experience leading multi-stakeholder initiatives, that decisions are more effective if they are metric-based and change comes faster and further with a collective approach. The Plastic Leak Project will be a catalyst for positive change in the growing plastic crisis.”
The global initiative currently has 18 members from around the world, including Decathlon, Cotton Incorporated, Cyclos, The Dow Chemical Company, Adidas, McDonald's Corporation, Mars Incorporated and more, as well as a strategic committee including the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the Life Cycle Initiative and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD).
At Decathlon, we are already taking steps to protect the environment from harmful plastics, but we know much more can be done. We avoid using plastic bags in stores, limit packaging on all products and use recycled materials when we can (for example, using recycled water bottles to make the MH Fleeces and the Trek 100 Insulated Jacket).
It is important to continue to take steps to better protect our planet. For this reason, we joined the PLP initiative to be part of the solution, supporting robust metrics that help identify the problems and science-based actions to prevent plastic leakage.
The PLP will develop and test a metrics-driven methodology – the Life Cycle Assessment – as well as industry-specific guidance for locating and measuring plastic leakage. The Director of EA, Julien Boucher, said, “We are convinced that better metrics are needed to shape action towards closing the plastic tap and keeping our oceans clean. We hope the PLP will significantly contribute to developing these metrics both to guide company strategies and product design.”
“Today, policies, bans and decisions on plastic leakage are often based on passion and pressure rather than science. How can we navigate the buzz to find science-based solutions? We truly believe that businesses are effective at influencing change,” says Laura Peano, Senior Sustainability Consultant and project manager of the Plastic Leak Project. “We also know, from years of experience leading multi-stakeholder initiatives, that decisions are more effective if they are metric-based and change comes faster and further with a collective approach. The Plastic Leak Project will be a catalyst for positive change in the growing plastic crisis.”
The global initiative currently has 18 members from around the world, including Decathlon, Cotton Incorporated, Cyclos, The Dow Chemical Company, Adidas, McDonald's Corporation, Mars Incorporated and more, as well as a strategic committee including the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the Life Cycle Initiative and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD).
More Info:
Learn more about the Plastic Leak Project and view the full press release on the Quantis website.
