BEMED launches its Business Club

BeMed has launched its Business Club with the aim of bringing together businesses to work towards the implementation of concrete solutions to reduce plastic pollution at its source. This new Business Club intends to facilitate exchanges between companies along the entire plastics value chain, scientists and NGOs active in this field, to develop and implement concrete solutions to address plastic pollution in the Mediterranean. Veolia, Monte-Carlo Société des Bains de Mer, CHANEL, Haribo and Carrefour have already joined and are fully committed to the Business Club's objectives.

Every year, more than 200,000 tonnes of plastic waste are discarded into the Mediterranean Sea, equivalent to 500 shipping containers per day. With more than 3000 billion plastic particles, the Mediterranean is one of the most polluted seas in the world. In this context, the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation, the Tara Ocean Foundation, Surfrider Foundation Europe, the MAVA Foundation and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) decided to create Beyond Plastic Med (BeMed) in 2015.

BeMed aims to reduce plastic pollution by facilitating the implementation of effective solutions, supporting a network of key stakeholders and encouraging experience sharing. BeMed has already supported 57 initiatives in 14 countries of the Mediterranean basin and this network is growing every year through calls for projects. Beyond its financial support, BeMed aims to initiate a regional dynamic by linking organisations and encouraging the replication of effective actions.

To go further, in January 2020 BeMed created a Business Club bringing together companies committed to implementing concrete solutions to prevent plastic pollution in the Mediterranean. The BeMed Business Club is a unique project of its kind, due to its collaborative functioning and its Mediterranean roots. It aims to include all the stakeholders along the plastics value chain - from production to the end of product life - to involve companies in a common goal of transitioning towards the reduction of plastic pollution. The Business Club is supported by a committee of experts who provide scientific knowledge in support of its’ activities, and BeMed's founding organisations’ implementation experience.

BeMed officially launched its Business Club at a digital press conference on December 1st following a two-day workshop alongside the already member companies: Veolia, Monte-Carlo Société des Bains de Mer, Chanel, Haribo and Carrefour.

This workshop brought together the two working groups of the Business Club:
The science and business group aims to broaden companies’ scientific knowledge as well as provide scientists with concrete feedback from businesses. The working group held in depth discussions around the environmental impacts of the plastic end life.
The pilot project working group focused on developing an action plan to implement a pilot project in Marseille. The aim of this project will be to reach a proof of concept to drastically reduce the use of single-use plastics in hotels. Stakeholders essential to the successful implementation of the project also participated in the meeting.

The workshop also provided the opportunity to welcome potential new members in the Business Club. Companies from Marseille, where the project will be implemented, and Tunisia, where it might be replicated, joined the discussions.

By gradually enlarging the group of companies involved, the Business Club strives to integrate members from different shores of the Mediterranean within a joint dynamic of transition towards sustainable models to reduce plastic pollution in the long term and on a regional scale.

For more information: www.beyondplasticmed.org