A big bet on upstream innovation

PolicyBusiness
Written By Matt Prindiville

Episode #44

Subscribe:

Ellen MacArthur Foundation's Sarah Wingstread talks about their report, which shows how upstream innovation can be a root-cause solution to waste.

Some of our listeners may have heard of Dame Ellen MacArthur, the famed sailor who set the world record for the fastest solo circumnavigation around the globe.

But what people may not know is that she also started the Ellen MacArthur Foundation (EMF), which has become one of the world’s most influential environmental organizations – working to inspire a generation to re-think, re-design and build a circular economy. 

In this episode, Matt Prindiville talks to Sarah Wingstread, Program Manager for Innovation at EMF’s New Plastics Economy Initiative about applying root-cause – upstream! – solutions to address our plastic waste crisis through elimination, reuse, and material circulation. She also walks through highlights from their latest report which she co-authored, Upstream Innovation: A Guide to Packaging Solutions.

Resources:

Matt Prindiville

Matt is a recognized thought leader within the plastic pollution community and advises the United Nations Environment Program on their plastic pollution strategies. He is one of the founders of the global Break Free from Plastic Movement and the founder of the Cradle2 Coalition and Make It Take It Campaign. He helped establish and advance the Electronics Takeback Coalition, the Multi-State Mercury Campaign, and the Safer Chemicals and Healthy Families Coalition. Matt has written for the Guardian, GreenBiz, and Sustainable Brands among other publications. He’s been featured in the Economist, the New York Times, on NPR’s 1A, Jack Johnson’s Smog of the Sea film, and consulted with 60 Minutes on their plastic pollution special. He can be found surfing, snowboarding, and coaching his daughter's basketball team.

Previous

Changing the narrative: Environmental justice and plastic production
Next

An indisposable future for your baby