Nature Breaking

← Nature Breaking25 Aug · 40 min

Unwrapped: The Plastic Crisis (Part 2) | Can Companies Fix Plastic Pollution?

Unwrapped: The Plastic Crisis (Part 2) | Can Companies Fix Plastic Pollution?25 Aug40 min

The world's plastic problem won't be solved by good intentions alone.

In part two of Unwrapped: The Plastic Crisis, our special three-part miniseries from Nature Breaking, host Seth Larson and WWF plastics expert Erin Simon shift from the past to the present—digging into what's actually being done right now to tackle plastic pollution, and where those efforts are falling short.

Joining the conversation is Jeff Bezzo of SC Johnson, one of the world's largest household product companies, who works at the intersection of sustainability and business strategy. Jeff pulls back the curtain on what it actually takes for a 130-year-old company to rethink packaging at scale, and why voluntary corporate action can only go so far without policy to back it up.

Together, they explore:

The hidden reasons some plastic gets recycled and some doesn't How Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) works, and why it's gaining momentum across the US What SC Johnson has learned from real-world experiments with refill and reuse systems Why global companies are increasingly asking for consistent policy, not just goodwill The honest tensions between sustainability goals and business realities This episode is about the messy middle of solving a global crisis—where companies, policymakers, and consumers all have a role to play, and where progress depends on getting the incentives right.

Links for More Info:

Jeff Bezzo bio

WWF Plastics page

ACT: Tell Global Leaders You Want a Future With Less Plastic

Chapters:

0:00 Can I recycle this? (cold open)

0:51 Intro