Management and Sustainability Analysis of Plastic Collective

This report focuses on the management and sustainability analysis of Plastic Collective. The report dwells on background of the case, demonstration of body of knowledge through research as well as related strategies and issues regarding sustainability.

Management and Sustainability Analysis 1
MANAGEMENT AND SUSTAINABILITY ANALYSIS
Name
Course
Tutor
University
Date

Management and Sustainability Analysis 2
Executive summary
This report focuses on the management and sustainability analysis of Plastic Collective.
The report dwells on background of the case, demonstration of body of knowledge through
research as well as related strategies and issues regarding sustainability. The paper will also
address analysis of the situation centered on relevant theory, practice and sustainability.
Besides, the paper will provide recommendations and conclusions as well as strategies to be
adopted. The report will also discuss the explanation of the case and its synthesis with the
theory.

Management and Sustainability Analysis 3
Table of Contents
Executive summary..................................................................................................................... 2
Introduction.................................................................................................................................. 3
Background to the case............................................................................................................... 4
Body of Knowledge...................................................................................................................... 5
Analysis of the Situation.............................................................................................................. 7
Role of planning........................................................................................................................... 8
Role of Organizing....................................................................................................................... 8
Role of Leading........................................................................................................................... 8
Role of Control............................................................................................................................. 9
Recommendations....................................................................................................................... 9
Case Synthesis with Theory......................................................................................................10
Strategies.................................................................................................................................. 10
Conclusion................................................................................................................................. 12
References List.......................................................................................................................... 12

Management and Sustainability Analysis 4
Introduction
The plastic collective initiative was founded by Louise Hardman, a zoologist and
chemistry teacher in Australia. Her experience of witnessing the death of a small green turtle
after it consumed plastic waste hidden in sea grass inspired Louise to focus on plastic recycling
to reduce the amount of waste (Van, Laner and Fellner 2018).
Starting from the premise that by creating value in plastic waste, it will no longer be
rubbish, Louise developed a mobile recycling machine which transformed waste into usable
items. She also developed an educational program on the chemistry of plastics which
enlightened the community on the dangers of plastic waste and benefits of plastic recycling.
Background to the case
The need for plastic waste recycling has been immensely substantiated by the amount
of plastic waste produced worldwide. Plastic waste is increasingly becoming a problem across
the world. More than 370 million people live on islands located in the Asia Pacific region but
lack safe waste management programs to guarantee sustainability of their environment.
Moreover, it is estimated that over 11 million tons of plastic is currently polluting the sea and
the environment (Geyer, Jambeck and Law 2017). The increasing rate of plastic debris in sea is
alarming yet people continue to feel disempowered as a result of lacking viable solutions to
address the epidemic. The launch of plastic collective solution seems to be the best solution
that has ever been presented to address the situation.
The solution is based on three different pillars which include empowering people by
creating awareness, innovating new designs and material of tackling the problem as well as

Management and Sustainability Analysis 5
developing practical and reliable tools such as the Shruder machine (Plastic Collective 2018).
The Shruder program is widely known for its deliberate intention in training communities living
around the seas to manage plastic wastes by recycling the plastic to innovate new products that
can be used within the community. The Uniqueness of this solution is that the tool is mobile
and can be taken to location of waste which cuts transportation cost. Besides, the mobility of
the tool allows it to be moved to remote places on islands where roads are inaccessible.
Safe plastic waste management solution provided by Louise got recognition from
stakeholders in business as a result of its ability to mitigate plastic waste pollution by a
significant margin. Later, Plastic Collective launched another program targeted on business
professionals known as Plastic Neutral Certification for business with an objective of mitigating
the amount of plastic use in organization through a sponsorship program (Plastic Collective
2018). In this regard, businesses are allowed to contribute positively to sustainability initiatives
and corporate social responsibility. Consequently, Plastic Collective objective is to ensure that
the machine is available to remote and isolated communities living on islands and shoreline.
One machine can recover one ton of plastic in a month which implies that the partnership with
corporations will go a long way in offsetting plastic waste (Plastic Collective 2018). While this
move is supported by several companies, relentless efforts to encourage other companies is
underway to ensure everyone understands the consequences of plastic waste to human health
as well as the ecosystems when plastic finds its way into the sea.
Body of Knowledge
Sustainability refers to support systems that guarantee continuous biological systems
diversity and productivity. Sustainability does not only mean environmentalism but also

Management and Sustainability Analysis 6
centered on social aspects that involve the world, people and prosperity. Majority of
organizations understand the significance of sustainability initiatives although they experience
challenges addressing the problem effectively. A study conducted by Missouri University of
Science and Technology indicated that 45 percent of senior managers in organizations think of
sustainability as a long term perspective while 40 percent of the managers suggested that
sustainability involves climate change, environmental, social and economic issues (J BACHMAN,
Bashyal and Baumann 2012). When the respondents were asked whose responsibility it was to
address sustainability issues, some respondents agreed that each business has a unit that
handles sustainability issues. On the other hand, some respondents indicated that all
employees have a role to play when it came to sustainability initiatives.
Besides, other respondents indicated that they had no sustainability initiatives in their
workplaces. For those who practiced sustainability initiatives, there were framework within
their organizations that were responsible for coordinating strategies. The respondents also
indicated that depletion of non-renewable resources is the most crucial impact of sustainability
initiatives. Consumer concern about sustainability issues has challenged organizations to
incorporate sustainability initiatives in their business process as a health concern as well as
social responsibility (Song, Li and Zeng 2015). Most respondents from the research indicated
that the benefits derived from implementing sustainable issues include competitive advantage,
innovation and cost saving. Majority of the organizations use different strategy to achieve their
sustainability goals. While some are focused on improving efficiency of their consumption,
others are centered on reducing waste. Further, medium sized companies are involved with
designing and developing products that can be reused or recycled to other products so as to

Management and Sustainability Analysis 7
reduce on wastage. The unpopular strategy used by some organizations is lobbying
governments to implement better policies on sustainability.
Large scale production of plastics began more about 7 decades ago and the production
has since increased. The dynamics of business success stems of its adaptability, robustness and
flexibility. Plastic material play a significant role in mitigating environmental impacts on product
by ensuring less damage during transportation and reduction in food waste as a result of
protection from plastic material that increases the shelf life. In as much as plastic contributes
positively to the economy, its long-term effects are catastrophic to the environment if not
addressed accordingly. Therefore, businesses should make it their responsibility to involve their
organization in tackling the plastic challenge (Zaman 2014). Championed by Plastic Collective,
many organizations have come out in support of addressing plastic challenge. However, the
plastic issue is a complex issue that requires carefully and well-developed strategy to effectively
make a positive impact in the quest to eradicate plastics from the sea and environment.
However, not only does plastic bring forth challenges but also opportunities in terms of
innovating new products, securing customer loyalty and brand recognition and safeguarding
supply chain.
Analysis of the Situation
The theory that can be used to explain sustainable plastic initiatives by Plastic Collective
is Waste Management Theory. The theory is widely known in fields such as environmental
sciences and engineering. The theory’s central role is centered on waste as a product and its
management. The goal of Waste Management Theory is to ensure that waste is defined
appropriately (Laurent et al 2014). For instance, there are several classes of waste which

Management and Sustainability Analysis 8
include non-wanted things that are created without the intention but have no useful purpose.
The second classification involves objects that are given purpose but become obsolete after
they are used. The third class relates to things that have purpose but have since become
useless as a result of fault. The last category of waste involves things that are created with
defined purpose but the users fail to use them for their intended purpose. Knowledge about
specific type of waste is significant in providing a framework for managing impacts to the
environment.
Role of planning
The role of planning is achieved by plastic collectives through their initiative to ensure
that individuals, businesses, towns and countries become plastic sensitive. The model is pegged
to two principles aimed at shifting the perspective of plastics from waste to resources that are
valuable and plastics should be reduced or recycled to minimize the essence of increasing
production. Through planning, communities that live in islands can realize plastic free waste
and improve their health and environmental status (Gutberlet et al 2017).
Role of Organizing
The role of organizing is accomplished by Plastic Collective through a four day program
that is centered on empowering, innovating and creating new products. The goals of organizing
these events is to create awareness in the community so that they understand and contribute
in fighting the impact of plastics to the environment (Law 2015). The goal of organizing
according to the organization is to ensure that all the stakeholders are brought together and

Management and Sustainability Analysis 9
share common agenda towards reducing and recycling of plastic waste as sustainability
initiative.
Role of Leading
The role of leading is played by Plastic Collective through championing the waste
management initiatives by individual, businesses, cities and countries (Gutberlet 2015).
Deciding to lead the initiative inspires other stakeholders such as businesses to contribute in
managing plastic waste based on potential benefits that can be earned. Among the benefits of
leading by example is gaining competitive advantage through championing sustainable goals,
achieve corporate social responsibility and creating a sustainable environment that will support
the needs of different species.
Role of Control
Plastic Collective achieves control through modifying its Plastic Neutral Workshop to suit
the needs of specific clients. For instance, it ensures that it is in control of individual and
households by introducing people to some of the items they can do from their home to reduce
the rate of plastic pollution. The principle strategy used by the organization is to train individual
by empowering them with respect to impacts of plastic waste to the community. This program
is extended to communities and organizations as well as businesses and corporation (Mahajan
and Vakharia 2016). Control in these sectors is achieved through a comprehensive strategy that
aims to increase productivity and environmental impact.

Management and Sustainability Analysis 10
Recommendations
The recommendations for future sustainable practices for Plastic Collective should
include government support. Government can play a big role in this fight against plastic
pollution by increasing awareness and creating sustainable policies that manage plastic waste
pollution. There are several approaches the government can use to address plastic waste
challenge (Bernardo, Simões and Pinto 2016). For instance, the government can ensure all
schools teach students about the significance of managing waste pollution. This will ensure the
whole country changes mindset about plastic pollution which is the first step in addressing the
problem.
The government can also set laws that make companies that manufacture plastics
responsible for their waste (Arena and Di Gregorio 2014). More so, the government can
establish tough laws for individuals and businesses that do not adhere to sustainable goals set
forth. Additionally, the government through Plastic Collectives can launch a program to make
Shruder machine accessible across the country especially in places with high plastic pollution. In
conclusion, without effective strategies of creating awareness and lack of Shruder machine,
efforts of addressing the problem of plastic pollution will be in futility.
Case Synthesis with Theory
Strategies
Based on Waste Management Theory, plastic can be made more sustainable through
determining the nature of the plastic waste. Understanding of how plastics impact the
environment establishes the need for a waste management practice whose goals are

Management and Sustainability Analysis 11
empowered through sustainable initiatives (Lamb et al 2018). For instance, there are a number
of strategies that can be used by Plastic Collective to ensure waste is minimized and recycled.
There are several strategies that can be adopted by Plastic Collective in their quest to combat
increasing menace as a result of plastic waste pollution especially among people living in islands.
Plastic collective can implement basic strategies while at the same time encourage innovations such as
the Shruder machine for efficiency. The following strategies are some of the ways Plastic Collective can
mitigate plastic waste pollution.
 Plastic collective in conjunction with the government can create awareness to make recycling
process as easy as doing normal chores. This can be realized through ensuring that Recycling
machine such as Shruder is made available in places that are known to have large deposits of
plastic waste material (Zarfl et al 2011). Further, the government can coordinate effort with
local authorities to ensure that plastic debris are managed effectively once they are recycled.
For instance, the government can create an industry that manufactures products from the
recycled waste material thereby impacting positively to the economy through creation of job
and sustainable environment.
 It is the mandate of the government and initiative such as Plastic Collective to establish laws
that work against disposing waste that are neither non-recyclable nor non-biodegradable. More
so, communities need to be made aware of the dangers plastic waste pollution does to the
environment so that they understand that each and every person has a role to play in combating
plastic waste pollution (Galgani et al 2010).
 Plastic Collective and local authorities need to lead by example through ensuring the task force
involved in the collection of plastic debris that have already been disposed are working as they
should (So et al 2016). Besides, countries that share international wasters should work together

Management and Sustainability Analysis 12
with neighboring countries and non-governmental organization to ensure that initiatives are put
in place so that plastic waste deposits on the beaches are collected and managed effectively.
 Responsible organizations need to encourage buying and selling of used plastic materials (Vince
and Hardesty 2017). This strategy means that instead of people will be more aware that plastic
after use should not necessarily be waste but can be a good source of earning an income
through selling the products to recycling and management companies that convert the products
to useful materials that can be used for longer without the need to be disposed.
 Lastly, responsible organizations such as Plastic Collective should lobby the government so that
that packaging can be regulated. This is because most plastic material are used for packaging
and are rendered useless once a product in unpacked. The governments should ensure
companies that are involved in packaging plastic products focus on degradable and recyclable
products (Willis et al 2018).
Conclusion
Plastic Collective has one of the best solutions that has ever been presented to address
plastic pollution not just in Australia but other parts of the world especially communities that
live in islands. The Shruder machine is mobile and accessible to remote places that have
challenges in mitigating the impacts of plastic waste pollution. The solution by Plastic Collective
is centered on recycling plastic material to produce new products. Plastic Collective used three
phases to manage its sustainability initiatives. The first phase involves plastic neutral workshop,
the second phase involves Shruder partnership program while the third face involves creating
awareness and engagement in the country. However, this does not effectively address plastic

Management and Sustainability Analysis 13
pollution thus the need for the company to adopt viable solution that are recommended such
as recycled feedstock, use of biodegradable material and renewable feedstock.
References List
Arena, U. and Di Gregorio, F., (2014). A waste management planning based on substance flow
analysis. Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 85, pp.54-66.
Bernardo, C.A., Simões, C.L. and Pinto, L.M.C., (2016), October. Environmental and economic
life cycle analysis of plastic waste management options. A review. In AIP Conference
Proceedings (Vol. 1779, No. 1, p. 140001). AIP Publishing.
Galgani, F., Fleet, D., van Franeker, J.A., Katsanevakis, S., Maes, T., Mouat, J., Oosterbaan, L.,
Poitou, I., Hanke, G., Thompson, R. and Amato, E., (2010). Marine Strategy Framework
directive-Task Group 10 Report marine litter do not cause harm to the coastal and marine
environment. Report on the identification of descriptors for the Good Environmental Status of
European Seas regarding marine litter under the Marine Strategy Framework Directive. Office
for Official Publications of the European Communities.
Geyer, R., Jambeck, J.R. and Law, K.L., (2017). Production, use, and fate of all plastics ever
made. Science advances, 3(7), p.e1700782.
Gutberlet, J., (2015). More inclusive and cleaner cities with waste management co-production:
Insights from participatory epistemologies and methods. Habitat International, 46, pp.234-243.
Gutberlet, J., Kain, J.H., Nyakinya, B., Oloko, M., Zapata, P. and Zapata Campos, M.J., (2017).
Bridging weak links of solid waste management in informal settlements. The Journal of
Environment & Development, 26(1), pp.106-131.

Management and Sustainability Analysis 14
J BACHMAN, B., Bashyal, S. and Baumann, M., (2012). Sustainability in the plastics industry:
concerns, issues, and strategies. Polimeri: časopis za plastiku i gumu, 33(1), pp.6-11.
Lamb, J.B., Willis, B.L., Fiorenza, E.A., Couch, C.S., Howard, R., Rader, D.N., True, J.D., Kelly, L.A.,
Ahmad, A., Jompa, J. and Harvell, C.D., (2018). Plastic waste associated with disease on coral
reefs. Science, 359(6374), pp.460-462.
Laurent, A., Bakas, I., Clavreul, J., Bernstad, A., Niero, M., Gentil, E., Hauschild, M.Z. and
Christensen, T.H., (2014). Review of LCA studies of solid waste management systems–Part I:
Lessons learned and perspectives. Waste management, 34(3), pp.573-588.
Mahajan, J. and Vakharia, A.J., (2016). Waste management: a reverse supply chain
perspective. Vikalpa, 41(3), pp.197-208.
Plastic Collective. (2018). Partnership Program [Online] Available at:
https://www.plasticcollective.co/partnership-program/
Plastic Collective. (2018). Plastic Neutral Program [Online] Available at:
https://www.plasticcollective.co/program/
Plastic Collective. (2018). The Shruder & Program [Online] Available at:
https://www.plasticcollective.co/brochure/
So, W.M.W., Cheng, N.Y.I., Chow, C.F. and Zhan, Y., (2016). Learning about the types of plastic
wastes: Effectiveness of inquiry learning strategies. Education 3-13, 44(3), pp.311-324.
Song, Q., Li, J. and Zeng, X., (2015). Minimizing the increasing solid waste through zero waste
strategy. Journal of Cleaner Production, 104, pp.199-210.

Management and Sustainability Analysis 15
Van, E.E., Laner, D. and Fellner, J., (2018). Integrating high-resolution material flow data into the
environmental assessment of waste management system scenarios-the case of plastic
packaging in Austria. Environmental science & technology.
Vince, J. and Hardesty, B.D., (2017). Plastic pollution challenges in marine and coastal
environments: from local to global governance. Restoration Ecology, 25(1), pp.123-128.
Willis, K., Maureaud, C., Wilcox, C. and Hardesty, B.D., (2018). How successful are waste
abatement campaigns and government policies at reducing plastic waste into the marine
environment?. Marine Policy, 96, pp.243-249.
Zaman, A.U., (2014). Measuring waste management performance using the ‘Zero Waste Index’:
the case of Adelaide, Australia. Journal of Cleaner Production, 66, pp.407-419.
Zarfl, C., Fleet, D., Fries, E., Galgani, F., Gerdts, G., Hanke, G. and Matthies, M., (2011).
Microplastics in oceans. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 62, pp.1589-1591.