WPP Takes the Plastic Out of Wire & Plastic Products
June 17 2019 - 7:00AM
Business Wire
- Company will phase out single-use
plastics in all of its 3,000-plus agency offices and campuses
worldwide by 2020
- Signs the New Plastics Economy Global
Commitment led by UN Environment and the Ellen MacArthur
Foundation
- Pledges to work with clients and
partners to drive change, with Facebook among the first to
collaborate
WPP (NYSE:WPP) today announced a series of initiatives designed
to ensure it is playing its part in tackling pollution from
single-use plastics.
The company will phase out single-use plastics in its premises
by the end of the year. It will no longer buy or provide single-use
plastics such as bottles, straws, cutlery and cups in any of its
3,000-plus agency offices and campuses worldwide. And it will make
it easier for people to recycle their own plastic materials at
work.
WPP has signed the New Plastics Economy Global Commitment, led
jointly by UN Environment and the Ellen MacArthur Foundation,
thereby endorsing the vision of a circular economy for plastic in
which it is designed never to become waste or pollution. Other
signatories include Colgate-Palmolive, Danone, Johnson &
Johnson, Mars, Nestlé, PepsiCo, SC Johnson, The Coca-Cola Company
and Unilever.
The company has also committed to work with partners and clients
to: inspire consumers to think differently about plastic packaging
and change their behaviour; create more sustainable approaches to
product and packaging design; and develop new systems for
delivering and recycling products. Facebook is among the first
partners to collaborate; the two companies are exploring ways to
work together to harness their collective global reach to drive
action among consumers.
Today’s announcement follows a special internal WPP summit in
May which brought together people from across the company’s
agencies to discuss how to reduce the impact of plastic on the
planet, from redesigning products, packaging and experiences to
creating closed-loop systems and using communications to improve
recycling rates. It also builds on various existing initiatives
within WPP agencies. To kick off the programme, WPP will host a
series of “Unpack the Problem” creative hackathons over the summer
to develop actionable ideas that help tackle plastic pollution.
Mark Read, CEO of WPP, said: “Our industry has tremendous
collective power to bring about change for the better, but our
efforts have to begin at home. Taking the plastic out of Wire &
Plastic Products by phasing out single-use plastics in our offices
is just the first step. People expect companies to act responsibly
and help them live more sustainably, and our clients look to us to
help them deliver brands with purpose. We look forward to working
with partners across the industry and using our creativity, insight
and scale to make a difference.”
Sian Sutherland, co-founder of the global movement A Plastic
Planet, said: “Plastic is a miracle material born from man’s
creativity. But our misuse of plastic has now created an
environmental disaster that our children will inherit if we don’t
turn off the plastic tap fast. To have the full creative force of
WPP focused on driving change at many levels will accelerate the
pace globally. Bad design got us into this mess and good design
will get us out of it.”
About WPPWPP is a creative transformation company. We
build better futures through an integrated offer of communications,
experience, commerce and technology. The company’s original name
was Wire & Plastic Products. For more information visit
www.wpp.com.
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190617005354/en/
Niken Wresniwiro, WPP+44 (0)20 7282 4600 / +44 (0)7876 005
489niken.wresniwiro@wpp.com
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