IBM joins global alliance to tackle plastic waste

IBM is designing a computer platform to be hosted on its IBM Cloud service that will help track and recover plastic waste around the world.

The company this morning announced that it”™s becoming a supporting member of nonprofit The Alliance to End Plastic Waste. IBM’s tracking platform will be known as the Plastics Recovery Insight and Steering Model, PRISM.

“Plastics play an essential role in our global economy, from simple packaging and shipping, to critical, life-saving materials for hospitals and healthcare workers,” said Manish Chawla, IBM”™s global industry managing director for energy, resources, and manufacturing.

“By harnessing the power of cloud and artificial intelligence we can bring together valuable and disparate pieces of data in secured and flexible environment where everyone from Alliance members to governments and regulators can collaborate to address this global challenge.”

The alliance was formed in 2019 and is headquartered in Singapore. It has 80 member companies and project partners and 14 programs and initiatives aimed at reducing plastic waste in the environment.

“A very significant obstacle we face in combating the plastic waste challenge is how to bring together the multitude of data that exists in a way that’s verifiable, flexible and actionable,” said Nick Kolesch, the Alliance”™s vice president for projects.

“IBM Cloud provides the flexibility to convene stakeholders and value chain participants to securely contribute data, with an easy path for migration, hosting and user access.”

It”™s hoped that the collection and study of data will help in dealing with issues such as plastic consumption and collection, plastic waste getting into the environment and waste management and recycling solutions.

IBM noted that its commitment to the environment dates back to at least 1971 when it published its first corporate environmental policy statement.

“Today, IBM remains committed to good stewardship of the planet’s resources and has made significant progress in managing waste, conserving energy, using renewable electricity, and reducing carbon dioxide emissions,” the company said in the announcement.