HP expands on CSR commitments
October 29, 2018
Following the recent announcement that it had signed up to the NextWave Plastics initiative, HP has been shedding further light on its sustainability efforts, as Plastics Today reports.
The OEM’s Chief Supply Chain Officer, Stuart Pann, explained that HP had joined the plastics consortium because “we firmly believe in the power of collaboration,” adding, “We want to scale our collective efforts among industry leaders, work together to address barriers and engage others in the quest for an ocean free from plastic.”
Before signing up, HP was already active in building a successful ocean-bound plastics supply chain in Haiti, where the OEM “sourced 250 tonnes” of plastic as well as generating over 600 “income opportunities” for people in the country. These figures amount to 12 million plastic bottles which have been prevented from ending up in the Caribbean and have, instead, been transformed into HP ink cartridges.
“HP is committed to turning off the tap on virgin plastic and investing further in the circular economy—and we seek to scale these programs and help them grow as we reinvent our supply chain to incorporate recycled content wherever possible,” said Ellen Jackowski, Global Head of Sustainability Strategy and Innovation at HP Inc. “As part of our commitment to sustainable impact, we will continue to innovate and collaborate with global partners like NextWave to reduce the amount of plastic reaching the world’s oceans.”
As well as its work in Haiti, HP also collects and recycles products in 74 other nations, preventing the items from ending up in landfill.
“The challenge here is shifting the paradigm to see plastic as a resource—not just waste—that can be malleable, versatile, productive and reusable,” said Jackowski. “The onus is on businesses, such as ours, to drive this understanding of plastic and its use and create urgency around putting the right processes and systems in place to ensure there is enough value that we can reuse this material rather than simply create more of it.”
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