Daily FNArena News - ESG Focus

The Federal government has launched a $190m recycling modernisation fund, aimed at kickstarting Australia’s circular economy. But there’s a long road to hoe and $1bn to flow.

The Responsible Investment Association of Australia’s most recent report on impact investment augurs major changes to fundamental investment principles, and to government policies and investment flows over the next decade.

Rio Tinto’s decision to destroy a historical landmark containing information on the world’s oldest known human civilisation has had repercussions with institutional investors across the globe. The question arises: is ESG lip service, or does ESG represent the new balance of power in a post-Cold War world?

Australian company Licella, is an interesting case study in plastic-recycling disruption. FNArena examines the way in which disruptive companies in this sector are forcing a foot in the door of a tightly held industry.

A landmark legal case has raised questions of liability around the presence of contaminants in soil as landowners face costly remediation that may devalue contaminated land, including ASX-listed companies.

Plastic recycling is one of the most active areas of innovation in the world today, thanks to the threat of regulation. From new or improved recycling technology, to rapid growth in recycled plastic patent filings and new repositories for recycled plastic, this industry wallflower is transforming into the belle of the predators’ ball.

The recycled plastic market is set for a period of intense disruption as the international will to curb the scourge of single-use plastic results in a sharp skew of capital to new technologies and processes.

Plastic collection and recycling presents opportunities for disruptive technology and innovative design; and recycled plastic is a potent ESG thematic, so expect strong activity in the institutional-public-offering and mergers-and-acquisitions markets over the next five years.

Plastic recycling is preparing for a golden decade as the fourth industrial revolution, the shift to a circular economy, climate change and global regulation conspire to drastically increase demand.

Increasing focus on ESG criteria is feeding into emerging new business models, and investors will be forced to pay attention