The following article originally appeared on The CEO Forum.
ROBERT REISS BLOG: VIRGINIA P’AN, CEO, YUMI ECOSOLUTIONS SHARES HOW TO REMOVE PLASTIC FROM THE ENVIRONMENT …
Last week I sat down with Virginia P’an who discussed some facts with me I was not aware of, “Of the 9 billion tons of plastics produced since 1950, 7 billion tons are still around as trash in landfills and our oceans which ends up in our food chain. Only 9% has been recycled. Recycling just makes more plastics to dispose of. It NEVER goes away! In fact 8 million tons of plastic ends up in the ocean every year. According to Klaus Schwab, Chairman of the World Economic Forum in Davos, “By 2050 there will be more plastic in the oceans than fish if we do not stop this trend and reverse it.”
I was fascinated by Virginia’s model to break the plastic cycle as this was the first time I’d heard of such a solution. “Yumi EcoSolutions is the first line of defense in the battle to prevent plastics ending up in oceans and landfill by producing products made from eco-friendly natural and organic materials like bamboo and starch which are completely biodegradable. Our Yumi registered tagline is: “The throw away that goes away®”.
When I asked Virginia about specify problems, she came back with what I think is a real winner, “According to the National Coffee Association … 14 Billion of these single use plastic cups are used every year.” If the plastic cups are put end to end it will reach the moon. We’re thrilled that Yumi has developed a replacement for the plastic Keurig K-cups.”
I’m just thinking out loud … imagine if all the CEOs of food related and toy manufacturing companies used compostables instead of plastics — of course they would energize their employees and customers — but they actually could together make a huge difference in building a healthier planet …