Everyday products – from plastics and synthetic rubber to detergents and dyes – hide a dangerous secret: their production results in the release of pollutants that are highly toxic and impact on human health, including arsenic and asbestos. This is a reality often overlooked by investors as Planet Tracker’s latest report, Toxic Footprints, reveals.

Both financial and sustainability performance have never been more important for the textiles industry. Traceability can bring huge benefits to both, finds Planet Tracker.

The European plastic industry provides an essential source of jobs to the EU27 and for years has been a steady driver of this economy. However, the industry’s rapidly declining ability to compete globally suggests that the industry is primed for disruption and a transition towards a more sustainable business model is now the most viable route to avoid stranding investor assets.

Coca-Cola and PepsiCo are the world’s top plastic polluting brands and therefore their recycling targets deserve scrutiny. We believe that investors should have little confidence in these goals and financial institutions should share the blame for this.

Supporters of deep-sea mining promise to provide the materials needed for a decarbonised future by extracting key metals from the seabed. However, the environmental effects of deep-sea mining have shown catastrophic and irreversible implications for biodiversity.

Plastic producers and major asset managers are not signing up to the UN Plastic Pollution Treaty

Zombie data, data that are false, unverifiable or lack credibility, have become all too en vogue. From fake news to corporate greenwashing, zombie data have been used to mislead or for monetary gain. This is particularly apparent in the fashion industry which many claim has a serious misinformation problem. This blog examines how zombie data concerning the environmental impacts of the textiles supply chain present a financial risk to capital markets investors.

Supply chain disruptions were front page news in 2021, highlighting an urgent need for companies to be able to track products along their supply chains. Management teams sometimes resist implementing traceability systems arguing they are too costly. But are such systems the cost of doing business or a nice to have?