In a keynote speech to Cornell University trustees and council members, “The Plastic Paradox,” Fisk Johnson ’79, MEng ’80, MS ’82, MBA ’84, PhD ’86, chairman and CEO of SC Johnson and Cornell trustee emeritus, recognized plastics for the myriad uses and benefits they offer before enumerating the ubiquitous, widespread impacts of plastic waste. Having experienced the challenges of reducing plastic waste, he has concluded that plastic waste regulation is key to effectively addressing the problem. Johnson, who was responsible for the historic gift that founded the Cornell SC Johnson College of Business in 2017, spoke at the Cornell Trustee Council annual meeting on the Cornell University campus, October 18.

“In the medical field, single use plastic is used in surgical gloves, respirators, tubing, catheters, dialysis machines, in part to prevent the spread of disease,” Johnson said. “How would you feel about getting surgery without the use of surgical gloves or tubing or plastic ID bags to ensure sterility? Consider the clothes you wear. Most textile fibers are synthetic plastic. We could switch to natural fibers. However, cotton alone takes up two and a half percent of the arable land on Earth. Switching to natural would increase land use, probably by a factor of four or more, and where is that land going to come from?”

Johnson’s presentation included multiple brief, powerful videos showing beaches, oceans, and towns all across the world that are polluted with enormous piles of plastic waste. “I don't think anyone can look at those images and not think, ‘What are we doing to our planet?’” said Johnson, an outspoken champion in the crusade against plastic ocean waste. While a few locations in Africa and Asia have introduced plastic collection and recycling efforts that afford those in direst poverty a meager income, some plastic is still very difficult to recycle, so mountains of it remain as pollutants.

As plastic waste strewn across the world slowly breaks down, tiny particles of it, or microplastics, are swept by wind and water across the globe, creating health hazards for everyone. Himself a scientist, Johnson has participated in research that shows microplastics are present even in the most remote corners of the globe, ranging from the Sahara Desert to Arctic Sea ice. Microplastics can also be found in every one of us, he said: in our blood, in breast milk, in respiratory systems, and even brain tissue. “And we’re really only beginning to understand the health consequences of that,” he said. “I think you can see the paradox of it all the benefits of plastic versus the emerging risk it brings to life on this planet. And the solutions to this issue are not simple.”

Read the full story on the Cornell SC Johnson College of Business website.

Janice Endresen is a communications editor at the Cornell SC Johnson College of Business.