Former UN Leader Will Focus New Not-for-Profit on Developing, Accelerating, and Deploying Solutions to Eliminate Plastic Waste in the Environment
WASHINGTON, D.C., 22 August 2019 – The Alliance to End Plastic Waste today announced that Jacob Duer will serve as the inaugural President and CEO of the newly formed not-for-profit, effective October. Duer joins the AEPW from the United Nations, where he most recently served as a Program Director for the UN Environment Programme.
Jacob is an experienced, impact-driven, global leader with a breadth of expertise working across a broad range of stakeholders in the public and private sectors, said David Taylor, Chairman of the Board, President and CEO of Procter & Gamble, and Chairman of the AEPW. His demonstrated leadership, passion for promoting sustainability, and track record of building solution-oriented multilateral partnerships will be an invaluable asset as the AEPW grows into this next phase.
In this newly created role, Duer will advance the Alliance mission to develop, deploy, and bring to scale solutions that will minimize and manage plastic waste and promote solutions for used plastics. This includes plastic reuse, recovery, and recycling to keep it out of the environment. Since launching in January, the Alliance has initiated projects focused on: river renewal; municipal and city partnerships; idea incubation; and IT infrastructure.
Being strongly committed to environmental sustainability, I am honored to lead the Alliance as a unique solution model to address plastic waste as one of the most pressing environmental issues of today, said Duer. Working with all stakeholders, the Alliance will play a lead role in driving sustainable solutions for the future.
The Alliance is the only organization bringing together the entire plastics value chain (manufacturing, packaging, collecting, and converting) and the associated technical, materials, logistics, and engineering expertise. In total, the Alliance has committed to a goal of USD$1.5 billion to deliver sustainable solutions over five years.
As a strategic partner to the AEPW, we are excited about the vision and leadership that Jacob will bring to this role, said Peter Bakker, President and CEO, World Business Council for Sustainable Development. This is an important inflection point as we build an unparalleled force to systematically and sustainably bring solutions to scale that will end plastic waste in the environment.
