Corporate heir calls for UN treaty on plastics

When plastics were invented in the early 20th century, it changed the world forever. But along with the many useful purposes humankind has found for the synthetic material, it has also become a pervasive pollutant with unknown long-term consequences. One industry expert, Fisk Johnson, the CEO of SC Johnson, told the audience at Devex World that plastic regulation is necessary and urgent. “We are not just fighting for the health of our planet,” he said. “We are fighting for our health and the health of our children.” Plastics have inundated the world’s oceans, food supply, and even human brains. A study by the University of Campania found that 60% of patients studied had microplastics in the plaque of arteries that send blood to the brain. Another study by the University of New Mexico found 50% more microplastics in the brain than was found eight years ago. Johnson said the amount was the equivalent of two tablespoons of plastic in the brain tissue from human cadavers. Micro and nanoplastics have been found in breast milk, dolphin breath, arctic ice, and apples. The health ramifications of this are not yet clear. But despite all the potentially frightening ways it could impact lives, plastic is also currently key to saving lives. According to Johnson, the best way forward is through regulation. He advocated for the creation of a United Nations treaty to find the right balance between plastic as a necessity and plastic as a threat. A resolution to develop a treaty was agreed upon in March 2022 with a goal to complete negotiations by the end of this year. “It’s not like the Montreal Protocol or the Minamata Treaty where you’re just trying to eliminate something,” he said. “You’ve got something that’s a huge benefit to well-being and you’re trying to manage its use in a way that eliminates the human health impact.” Single-use plastic is used in tubing for medical procedures, gloves to prevent infection, syringes, intravenous blood bags, heart valves, bandages, and insulin. “If you took plastic away, it would cost lives,” said Johnson. “This is the real paradox: Plastic contributes in such significant ways to human well-being. At the same time, it is emerging as an incredible, insidious pollutant that’s affecting planet, animal, and human health.” More plastic was produced in the first decade of this century than the entire century beforehand, and production is accelerating. Plastic doesn’t only come from consumer products. It’s in our clothes, which get washed, thus moving the plastic fibers into waste streams, then rivers, then the ocean. Nanoplastics, which you can’t see through a microscope, are likely to be even more prevalent than microplastics. One study on bottle water showed that there were 10 times more nanoplastic particles than microplastics. Johnson is a minority in this environment — the CEO of a private company advocating for corporate regulation. A report in June 2024 showed that companies have blocked efforts to regulate plastics for decades. But he said that regulation will only work if all the stakeholders in the plastics ecosystem, especially businesses, work together on a solution. “Business has a huge role to play and a huge obligation to society to do the right thing,” he said. Corporations also benefit from the fact that they have a longer time frame to think about their strategy. They aren’t beholden to stakeholders in the same way public companies are. Instead, they rely on customers, who often want to see the company making efforts to reduce their negative environmental and social impact. His great-grandfather told him that the “goodwill of the people is the only enduring thing in any business. It’s the sole substance and the rest is shadow,” Johnson recited. “That’s been our north star from early on,” he added. SC Johnson is participating in legislative advocacy. In 2018, it partnered with Plastic Bank, which pays community members to collect plastic in low- and middle-income countries. In 2019, the company did not renew its membership to the Plastics Industry Association after it lobbied for state laws that would overturn local bans on plastics. Within the company, it has reduced “virgin plastic,” which is newly manufactured from petrochemicals and crude oil or natural gas, by 28% and increased the use of recycled plastic by 25%. The company has also made other changes such as using reusable containers and removing black plastic, which is difficult to recycle, from packaging. Johnson said he is optimistic that the United Nations negotiations will provide a “reasonable framework” for a treaty that will provide a path forward for improvement.