In recent episodes of the All Things Sustainable podcast, we've heard how some of the biggest companies across sectors are navigating the changing sustainability landscape. In today's episode, we sit down with one of the world's largest chemical and plastic production companies, Dow.
"Sustainability used to be something nice to have, but now it's a key part of the business strategy," Han Zhang, Ph.D., Dow's Global Sustainability Director, Packaging and Specialty Plastics, tells us during S&P Global's CERAWeek energy conference in Houston. This is due to regulations, commitments from brand owners, and consumer demand, he says. "All of this creates a lot of opportunities to companies who can develop those sustainable solutions."
Dow has sustainability targets related to climate change, transforming waste, and advancing a circular economy where products are reused or recycled. Han says the company sees decarbonization and circularity as interconnected issues that can't be treated in silos.
"We cannot decarbonize the society without circular plastic, and we cannot achieve a circular economy" with higher carbon emissions, Han says. "At Dow as a company, we're tackling both in the same lens and I highly encourage the industry to do the same."
Listen to our episode, What's at stake in UN plastic pollution treaty talks
Listen to our episode, What companies are doing to address the plastic pollution problem
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