Vermeer says reducing the use of plastic, not recycling, should be the goal
About 79% of the plastic waste generated by this production ends up in landfills or the environment. Only 9% is ever recycled and only one-tenth of that amount has been recycled more than once over the last 50 years
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As the former leader of Coca-Cola’s Global Water Initiative, Dan Vermeer knows well the benefit of plastic for a company – for instance, it keeps food sanitary, is easily transported with less weight, and is very flexible.
“It solved all kinds of problems for us, but then as it scales, it becomes its own wicked problem,” Vermeer says.
[This article has been reproduced with permission from Duke University's Fuqua School of Business. This piece originally appeared on Duke Fuqua Insights]