LSBM201: Plastic Pollution, Circular Economy, and Corporate Ethics

This essay delves into the multifaceted issue of plastic pollution, examining its causes and far-reaching environmental and human health effects. It defines and discusses the circular economy as a potential solution, emphasizing its principles of waste reduction, material reuse, and system regeneration. The essay evaluates the performance of L'Oréal, a major cosmetics company, in relation to the six characteristics outlined in the New Plastics Economy Global Commitment report, assessing its efforts to eliminate unnecessary plastic packaging, promote recycling, and transition to sustainable practices. The analysis highlights the importance of corporate responsibility and the need for systemic changes to mitigate the adverse impacts of plastic pollution and foster a more sustainable future.

ETHICS SUSTAINABILITY AND
SOCIAL IMPACT

Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
Discuss in detail the causes and effects of plastic pollution........................................................3
Define and discuss the Circular Economy...................................................................................4
Evaluate how it is performing based on the six characteristics from the New Plastics Economy
Global Commitment report..........................................................................................................6
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................8
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................9

INTRODUCTION
Plastic pollution is the accumulation of plastic objects and particles (e.g. plastic bottles, bags and
microbeads in the Earth's environment that adversely affects wildlife, wildlife habitat, and
humans. Plastics that act as pollutants are categorized into micro-, meso-, or macro debris, based
on size. It is a threat because of the chemicals that are involved in it. The extraction of those
chemicals in nature can affect the nature by taking a grasp on soil. Other than this they can make
their way easily into the groundwater or other sources which taken on to affection of the whole
ecosystem. This is because with the contamination of harmful chemicals the plastic becomes
chlorinated which is why it is harmful and threat to everyone. L'Oréal S.A. is a French personal
care company headquartered in Clichy, Hauts-de-Seine with a registered office in Paris. It is the
world's largest cosmetics company and has developed activities in the field concentrating on hair
colour, skin care, sun protection, make-up, perfume, and hair care (Gazzola and et.al., 2019).
Discuss in detail the causes and effects of plastic pollution
Pollution of plastic started affected the environment since it came around in 1950 and that has
been a negative factor for the environment from that day. The reason behind its success is the
factors that manufactures it easily such as it can be shaped easily, cost of it is low, resistance of
mechanics. Also the reach of plastic is wide and for packaging no other substance is used for it.
Plastic is formed artificially by humans with the help of substances and chemicals that are not
good for the environment. Even the process of storing it, manufacturing it and disposing it is
harmful which needs changes if the nature wants to be preserved. There are different causes of
plastic that companies such as L’Oreal needs to keep in mind. Most of the people neglect this
aspect and this becomes the main cause of it. On the basis of estimation it has been assessed that
80 per cent of litter of marine come from land. The reason behind this much pollution is not
looking after the aspects for recycling and dumping them which affects the nature. This
negligence leaves them on the road where they are roamed by winds and rains and make their
way into places such as sewers, oceans and rivers. Many of the reasons behind the disaster that
occur naturally happen because of the pollution that is caused by plastic. This pollution has many
other effects on places such as wildlife, habitat, health of people, rivers etc. which is harmful for
them. For the environment they are very bad as they are formed with many chemicals which
leave it in the open environment and increase the level of pollution there. The compounds that

are obtained by them are able to transfer chemically into other organisms during the process of
indigestion. Molecules that are inside plastic can also be toxic and can make their place into the
body (Quarshie, Salmi and Leuschner, 2016). Apart from this they also affect the farm and crops
by affecting the process of photosynthesis in the fields of agriculture. Many of the people burn
plastic to dispose it which is a wrong way as it leads to more pollution in the air with the
releasing of chemicals that are toxic and when inhaled they can lead to many illness to both
humans and animals. After the affected state of habitat and farms it affects the wildlife directly in
large numbers. Many of the animals reside in seas and ocean and the existence of plastic there is
cancer for the animals such as turtles, mammals etc. after this another concern for them is of
ingestion which leads to the chain of food of the ecosystem mostly for the marine animals. The
food chain is upset because of the consumption of plastic even by organisms that are tiny such as
plankton. Because of the consumption many of these becomes toxic which affects animals that
are bigger as they feed on them. This creates a new set of problem other than this plastic exists in
fish which is the meal of many people most of the day. Plastic don’t even spare humans because
the additives and chemicals that are used in their stages of production also leaves an impact on
the health of humans which is harmful and negative. The exposure that it releases in the
environment is bad for humans there are many illness which can be caused through that such as
defects in birth, cancer, immunity that is impaired and problems that are related to health. Other
than this with the affection of sea life and marine animals the sea food that is contaminated by
humans is also contaminated with plastic and it has been proven by research that micro
substances of plastic has been formed in more than 100 species and many of them are consumed
by humans. Other than this we also consume plastic in the form of packaging. This leads to
affect their way into the liver of humans and it is consumed in the form of water. It is because of
the poor management of waste that humans even have to breathe plastic. Many of the countries
are suffering as all of them has high usage of plastic and in order to take out the waste the
process of it turns out to be very expensive other than it affects the life of many plants and
animals. Also with the availability of less land making more place for garbage is an issue for
many countries (Leone and Belingheri, 2017).
Define and discuss the Circular Economy
Economy which works with this aspect focuses on the benefits for the society so that they
can achieve growth. It takes the help of resources that are finite for the consumption and which

helps in designing the way through which waste can be taken out. They focus on using the
energy that is renewable so that they can work for building the natural, social and economic
capital. This approach works on three principle that is to make the way for taking out the waste
and pollution and keep the use of products and materials and regenerate the systems that are
natural. Economy which is circular works on building and rebuilding the health of the system.
The concept of it helps to assess the importance of the economy which involves all the scales of
operations which is for large and small businesses, for companies that are operating individually
or at a global or local platform. Transitioning to a economy that is circular will help people to
make changes and adjustments through which (Amisano, 2017) they can assess the impacts that
are negative for the economy that is linear. It also focuses on shift that helps to assess resilience
on long term basis, generates opportunities that are for business and economic benefits. The
model of circular economy involves cycles that are technical and biological and the difference
between both of them. Consumption happens in cycles that are biological as it deals with
materials that are based on foods and biological aspects such as wood and cotton. They are
designed in such a way through which they can take the effect of processes such as composting
and anaerobic digestion. These cycles that focus on the working of regenerating the systems of
living are soil which provide sources that are renewable for the economy. On the other hand
focus of other cycle that is technical is different they put its efforts to restore the products and
recover them with the strategies and parts that help them to enable repairing of it and make
changes in the process of manufacturing or focus on recycling of it (Bowles and et.al., 2018).
This approach has helped to influence the vision of economy with the new plastic which
states that plastic will never become waste. There are six aspects to it such as they are going to
eliminate the packaging of plastic which is not necessary as they have worked on designing it
again and with the help of innovative methods they have made it possible. It is necessary if
circular economy needs to be achieved as it will help to maintain the utility. Many of the
businesses are working on making changes in their models as it is necessary to recycle and
improve the aspect of it. This aspect and approach of economy has made it possible to explore
the models which can be used again and because of it many of the businesses are considering it
as an option through which they can improve their methods and make changes in the
consumption pattern of plastic. After the announcement of changes in structure they are using
that plastic which is of improved quality and with the help of technology they have made the

plastic that is used for packaging reusable so that they can reduce the level of pollution by
reducing the use of new plastic. Many companies has taken a initiative to reduce the level of
waste which is in the form of plastic as it harms the environment and causes many other
problems which needs to be stopped. They have taken responsibility to look after this aspect so
that they can get the support of the government and raise funds in the market with a good public
image which will also help them to improve their position in the market. The approach of
circular economy has made it possible to decouple the resources that are finite and improve the
process of recycling. Other than this many of the businesses has been looking to use sources and
energy that is renewable and put it to use of production and recycling of plastics. After the report
of New Plastics Economy Global Commitment came businesses has changed their focus on
making sure that they will look after the aspects that is concerned with improving the health and
safety of the ecosystem so that its use can be encouraged and businesses are aware of the fact
that what they needs to do so that they can serve in the market with the support of people and
making contributions which can sustain the environment (Casañ, Alier and Llorens, 2020).
Evaluate how it is performing based on the six characteristics from the New Plastics Economy
Global Commitment report.
L’Oreal is a French origin company which is known for its products of cosmetics that they offer
as they are considered as one of the best in the market. The focus of their products is to offer
premium quality of products with less use of chemicals and no side effects so that they can gain
the trust of the customers in the market and retain them for a long period of time. The share of
the company in the market is high against their competitors which states that they are more
successful and powerful than their competitors and this also proves that they have strong image
of their brand in the market. This makes it even more necessary for the company to serve with
those practices that helps to sustain the forces and aspects of the environment. This is why in
order to reduce the use of plastic they have complied with the policy of New Plastic I the Global
Commitment. The performance of the company has totally changed with the implementation of
the six characteristics of the policy as they had to made many changes in their culture which was
beneficial for them in lot of aspects. The vision of the policy was to reduce the level of waste
(Sila and Cek, 2017).
Elimination of unnecessary packaging of plastic-

With the help of conducting research and implementing new innovative ideas L’Oreal has
been able to remove the plastic that is unwanted. For instance for the packaging of sachets the
company now uses aluminum packaging so that they can reduce the use of plastic and help the
environment to improve its condition. They have changed their priority and that is to assess the
models that are of new delivery. It is necessary aspect if company wants to serve under the
guidelines of circular economy. Plastic has many benefits but the drawbacks of plastic has more
weight over them which is why it is necessary to make changes in the procedure and methods
used (Andrade and Tomblin, 2018).
Reuse models-
L’Oreal is looking for aspects that can help them to reuse the model this way they will be
able to enhance their capacity and improve the level of performance. Also with the help of it they
will be able to remove the aspect of single use packaging of plastic.
Recyclable or compostable by design-
With the help of innovative strategies the company is able to make changes in the model
of business and design of the product. This is because of the advancement of technology that
they have been able to achieve solution to this aspect (Lytras and Visvizi, 2020).
All packaging is reused-
L’Oreal has improved the quality of the plastic which involves less chemicals in the
stages of manufacturing so that they can be reused by the customers without the concern of
affecting their health. This has helped the company to improve their sales as customers are
getting many benefits with buying of their products. They are putting all of their efforts so that
waste can be managed and no plastic is left out for rotting in the environment. L’Oreal has taken
responsibility to look after the aspect of their packaging so that it can be reused. This way the
company will be able to make contribution in the aspect of recycling the plastic. For this L’Oreal
is also seeking the support of government so that they can form up a collection that is effective
and the infrastructure that can assess the mechanisms of funding that can self sustain. They also
provide policies and regulatory measures that needs to be enabled in the process.
Plastic use decoupled from finite resources-

In order to maintain the level of their performance on the basis of vision they are making
sure that they assess the decoupling in the beginning stage so that they can reduce the use of
plastics that are virgin with the help of dematerialization, reuse and recycling. It is important for
the company to make sure that the packages delivered in the market are being recycled by
meeting the legal aspects so that finite resources can be decoupled and the demand for recycling
will be stimulated. In order to claim the benefits from environment it is necessary that the parts
that are left of virgin needs to be change places with sources that are renewable and it can be
managed by the company easily. If the company is able to change the method of recycling and
manufacturing with renewable sources then they will be able to save up a lot of cost which will
be beneficial for them.
Free of Chemicals-
In order to support the environment L’Oreal has taken a initiative which is to take out all
the factors which involves the chemicals in the process of recycling manufacturing that affects
the forces of nature. Company believes that it is an critical issue and if they look after the health
and safety of other people they will automatically able to serve more people because of the
increased brand image of the company (Luque and Herrero‐García, 2019).
CONCLUSION
From the above studies it has been concluded that pollution through plastic needs to be reduced
or totally eliminated which is a difficult aspect as it is not easy to remove plastic from existence
but with the help of innovative methods and updated technology business will surely be able to
take up with reduction of chemicals involved and make the plastic reusable so that it can be less
harmful for the environment. In order to increase the level of sustainability all the business needs
to understand the importance of this situation so that they can serve in the market easily with
improved image of the brand. On the basis of the factors evaluated it has been assessed that
without committing to the vision of new policy they won’t be able to achieve circular economy
through which they will face difficulties in reducing the level of waste.

REFERENCES
Books and Journal
Luque, A. and Herrero‐García, N., 2019. How corporate social (ir) responsibility in the textile
sector is defined, and its impact on ethical sustainability: An analysis of 133
concepts. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, 26(6), pp.1285-
1306.
Lytras, M.D. and Visvizi, A., 2020. Big data research for social science and social impact.
Sila, I. and Cek, K., 2017. The impact of environmental, social and governance dimensions of
corporate social responsibility on economic performance: Australian evidence. Procedia
computer science, 120, pp.797-804.
Bowles, W., and et.al., 2018. Is social work really greening? Exploring the place of sustainability
and environment in social work codes of ethics. International Social Work, 61(4), pp.503-
517.
Leone, M.I. and Belingheri, P., 2017. The relevance of Innovation for Ethics, Responsibility and
Sustainability.
Gazzola, P., and et.al., 2019. Sustainability reporting practices and their social impact to NGO
funding in Italy. Critical Perspectives on Accounting, p.102085.
Quarshie, A.M., Salmi, A. and Leuschner, R., 2016. Sustainability and corporate social
responsibility in supply chains: The state of research in supply chain management and
business ethics journals. Journal of Purchasing and Supply Management, 22(2), pp.82-97.
Andrade, N.A. and Tomblin, D., 2018. Engineering and Sustainability: The Challenge of
Integrating Social and Ethical Issues into a Technical Course. In ASEE Annual Conference
& Exposition, Salt Lake City, UT.
Amisano, D., 2017. The relationship between ethical leadership and sustainability in small
businesses.
Casañ, M.J., Alier, M. and Llorens, A., 2020. Teaching Ethics and Sustainability to Informatics
Engineering Students, An Almost 30 Years’ Experience. Sustainability, 12(14), p.5499.