Six in Ten Plastic Packaging Companies have no Environmental Policy

 What follows come from a report by Planet Tracker . It provides dismal reading!

Hiding in plain sight between petrochemical companies and consumers (e.g. fast moving consumer goods companies) are the plastic containers and packaging companies, also called “converters” or “plastics producers”. Planet Tracker has identified a Universe of 83 publicly traded global companies i in the Plastic Containers and Packaging (PC&P) sector, which individually have an annual plastic revenue which exceeds USD 100 million and 10% of each company’s total revenue, according to Bloomberg. These 83 companies have a combined market capitalisation of USD 126 billion and account for 93% of the sector’s revenue. In this report we refer to these companies as ‘The Planet Tracker Universe’. 20 companies dominate the PC&P sector globally, accounting for 64% of its USD 53.8 billion revenue, although few have names known to the general public. The companies in the PC&P sector are facing a possible pincer movement as policymakers and consumers are mobilising to push the industry into taking responsibility for the singleuse plastics they produce and sell. In turn, this raises the threat that PC&P investments could become stranded. Companies in the Planet Tracker Universe need a coherent plan to transition to more sustainable processes and products: • 53 companies in our Planet Tracker Universe report no policies on key sustainable packagingrelated topics and few reflect the rising risk of legislation in their company filings. • The top twenty institutional investors in the Planet Tracker Universe have unrealised gains 1 of USD 7.7 billion in 447 investments, led by Vanguard with USD 1.9 billion. Total unrealised gains in the Universe are USD 24 billion held in 8,665 investments surveyed by Planet Tracker. • Less than one-tenth of 1% of the 4,175 institutional investors, with investments in the Universe surveyed, are members of investor initiatives supporting sustainable plastics initiatives. • 70 investors control 60% of public plastics production in the Universe: almost none have pollution policies. • As of 4 January 2021, companies in the Planet Tracker Universe had issued no green bonds, no sustainability bonds and no sustainability-linked loans. • Alarmingly, none of the top 20 individual private equity or foundation investors who each have only one investment in the Planet Tracker Universe for a total of 20 investments valued at USD 10.98 billion, or 12.5% of the 8,655 investments assessed, are participating in, or members of, investor initiatives supporting sustainable plastics initiatives. 70% of the Universe’s corporate bonds and loans are rolling over by 2025, creating an opportunity for some of these PC&P companies to convince investors they should be worthy of issuing green fixed income instruments. Conversely, the largest fixed income investors in this industry, led by BlackRock, J.P. Morgan, Prudential and Robeco, have a clear opportunity to set the investor agenda for these publicly traded companies with regards to how the Universe will coalesce around a vision to support a transition to sustainable practices and a circular economy