Every year, around 500 million tons of plastic waste is produced globally. That’s almost the total weight of all 8.1 billion people on the planet or the equivalent of 20,000 blue whales in weight.
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During these turbulent times, it may seem that the environmental transition is threatened by geopolitical rivalries and conflicting economic interests. But, according to experts at Lombard Odier Investment Managers, the transition is unstoppable and ignoring this fact is a risky investment decision. The institutional asset management business of the Lombard Odier Group is based in Switzerland and wholly owned and funded by its Managing Partners since its establishment in 1796.
Focus on nature
Lombard Odier IM operates on the core principle that sustainable investing will generate long-term returns, driving prosperity for its clients. The company’s conviction is that the sustainability transition will profoundly transform key systems, in particular, the Energy, Nature and Materials systems. When it comes to the Materials system, the bank chose to focus on plastic due to its massive market size, rapid transformation and lack of investment attention.
Plastic is a synthetic chemical compound made by humans using petrochemicals derived from oil and natural gas. They are comprised of engineered molecules that don’t exist in nature, so no natural organisms have yet evolved to break them down efficiently which means they accumulate in the environment and disrupt biodiversity.
To address the issue of the harmful effects of plastic, the bank launched the Lombard Odier Plastic Circularity Strategy, a private equity initiative in collaboration with the Alliance to End Plastic Waste (AEPW). The goal is to invest in scalable solutions that reduce plastic waste and GHG emissions across the entire plastic value chain.
“Our mantra is that one man’s trash is another man’s treasure,” said Alexandre Ouimet-Storrs, Investment Director – Plastic Circularity Strategy, Lombard Odier IM. He was speaking at the recent SAP for Energy and Utilities 2025 conference in Rotterdam. “Our goal is to close the plastic circularity gap by scaling innovative substitutes to plastics, moving plastic from single use to multi use and finally through increased recyclability.”
The weight of the world
Ouimet-Storrs made a striking comparison, saying that we humans produce nearly our own body weight in plastic waste each year.
“Every year, around 500 million tons of plastic waste is produced globally. That’s almost the total weight of all 8.1 billion people on the planet,” he explained. “It’s also the equivalent of 20,000 blue whales in weight.”
Ouimet-Storrs urged the audience to think for a moment. If business continues as usual, our plastic waste would nearly double by 2040, resulting in 50 kg of plastic waste per meter of coastline around the world. It would also deplete 20% of the total carbon budget available to remain under 1.5°C of global warming.
Clearly, it’s time to shift away from a linear economy that takes, makes and wastes to a circular one that takes, makes, uses and returns. This shift is already under way and unlocking massive investment opportunities across several sectors.
A trillion-dollar industry
According to extensive research on the economic potential of the circular economy, plastic production, circular business models and recycling plastics is already a trillion-dollar industry.
Managing, reducing, replacing, recycling, and innovating around plastic is creating new markets, startups and employment opportunities. Once seen as waste, plastics is now a central issue in economics, innovation, and sustainability.
Companies that develop recycling technologies, circular business models, recyclable materials, and waste-to-value innovations are attracting billions in funding. Municipal contracts, private investments, and public-private partnerships are flowing into this sector. At the same time major consumer brands are under pressure to cut plastic use.
On top of that, regulations and consumer demands have made plastic pollution a high-profile target for capital. Funds like the Lombard Odier Plastic Circularity Strategy are channeling capital into scalable solutions with the goal of making tier 1 financial returns for its investors
“Our goal is to invest in technology nuggets,” said Ouimet-Storrs. “These powerful transition drivers are creating momentum in the plastic value chain and ecological transition, offering attractive opportunities for investment strategies, especially in private equity.”
LOIM Plastic Circularity highlights
Ouimet-Storrs listed some of the solutions supported by the fund.
- In the area of plastics circularity, the focus is on developing lower carbon materials and easier-to-recycle plastics, designing repair, reuse and refill models, and promoting collection, sorting and advanced recycling.
- When it comes to superior deal sourcing, the focus is on the network of investment funds, Alliance to End Plastic Waste partnership and other partners affiliated with Lombard Odier IM.
- And finally, the fund has developed a value creation toolbox for customers and partners that includes access to the entire plastic value chain, inhouse sustainability research and a team of technical advisors.
Ouimet-Storrs also shared the three golden rules of impactful investing:
- Make sure a solution is sustainable, making a notable and system-change level impact in accelerating the transition to a more sustainable economy.
- Make sure the solution is cost competitive with regards to incumbent solutions with a clear gain to the end user.
- The new solution must offer equal or superior performance to the incumbent process and technology.
Rethink everything
Most of all, the team at Lombard Odier IM is urging everyone – from corporate decision makers to politicians to consumers – to rethink sustainability, rethink investment, in short, to rethink everything.
“What we need is a fundamental reassessment of traditional investment paradigms in response to global challenges such as climate change and technological disruption,” said the investment director.
By constantly rethinking how the world functions and how best to protect the natural environment, Lombard Odier IM has positioned itself as a guide for achieving long-term, sustainable growth. That’s how it provides fresh investment perspectives for its clients.
