An MBA Perspective from a Venture Intern in the Blue Economy

Written by Paula Muriel

Introduction: Plastic Pollution and a Crossroads of Opportunity

Plastic pollution is everywhere, from city waterways to the farthest reaches of the ocean. During my internship as an Investments Intern at SeaAhead, a bluetech venture firm based in Cambridge, I conducted market research on plastics pollution and the circular economy, focused on identifying scalable solutions that can reshape both material flows and investment narratives. This article draws from that experience, weaving together insights from recent global events—including a pivotal 2025 panel hosted by the Financial Times and World Plastics Council—with current data and inspiration from the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, McKinsey Global Institute, the UN Environment Programme, and frontline experts.

As policymakers debate global solutions and the UN treaty process continues to unfold, a new chapter is being written by the founders, investors, and technologists working to accelerate innovation on the ground. This challenge is much bigger than the environment alone—it is a financial, political, and social turning point. The decisions made in the coming months, especially in Geneva, will define plastics governance for decades, but for those building the future, the work has already begun.

Integrating System Dynamics: Why System Thinking is Essential for Plastic Circularity

A key insight from my MBA course "Business Strategies for a Sustainable Future," heavily informed by the framework of MIT's John Sterman, is that complicated environmental challenges like plastic pollution cannot be solved with quick fixes or isolated initiatives. Instead, we must apply system dynamics, a mindset and a method that maps the full complexity of economic and environmental systems, capturing feedback loops, time delays, and non-linear effects.

System dynamics reminds us that efforts targeting symptoms, such as occasional clean-ups or bans on straws, often fail because they do not address root causes, such as entrenched incentives for single-use consumption, insufficient price signals for recycled content, or the economic dynamics that make virgin plastics persistently cheaper than recycled alternatives. Sterman describes this as "policy resistance," meaning the system pushes back against piecemeal efforts.

What Can We Learn From This?

High-leverage points in the plastics economy lie in changing market incentives, business rules, public norms, and how we define value, not only in technological fixes.

Tackling only one part of the system, such as recycling infrastructure without changing producer incentives or consumer habits, usually results in "side effects" that undermine overall progress.

Lasting progress comes when we step outside sector silos, model interconnected impacts, and co-create solutions with all stakeholders: government, industry, civil society, and consumers.

As Sterman warns: "We commonly frame the sustainability challenge as a conflict between the economy and the environment, when the economy and society are embedded in the ecosystems upon which all life depends." True plastic circularity will only be achieved when business leaders, policymakers, and investors embrace the complexity of these feedbacks, aligning incentives and rules to favor long-term resilience and material recovery.

The Scope of the Plastic Crisis: Ubiquity, Inequity, and Inertia

Plastics are embedded into our economies and environments, in packaging, clothing, cosmetics, consumer goods, and infrastructure. The world now produces over 450 million metric tons annually, and roughly 36 percent is used just once before being discarded. Only 9 percent of plastic produced globally has ever been recycled. The rest ends up incinerated, landfilled, or, increasingly, in natural systems.

Today, the ocean holds an estimated 139 million tons of plastic waste. Each year, between 11 and 15 million tons flow into marine environments, predominantly through land-based sources like river systems and poorly managed landfills.

The Implications Are Alarming

Microplastics are found in 88 percent of marine species studied and recently in human blood, lungs, and placenta samples.

Ocean currents concentrate plastic into five large gyres, including the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, now three times the size of France.

Low- and middle-income countries, especially in Southeast Asia and West Africa, experience the worst of this crisis due to infrastructural gaps, despite consuming less plastic per capita.

The McKinsey Global Institute projects that, without a coordinated global intervention, ocean plastic flows could triple by 2040, overwhelming marine ecosystems and disrupting fisheries, tourism, and public health.

Why the Linear Model Failed

The dominant model of material use—extract, produce, consume, discard—is fundamentally flawed. This "linear economy" is designed for efficiency, not resilience. In the case of plastics:

The Ellen MacArthur Foundation estimates $80–120 billion in plastic packaging value is discarded after a single use each year. Only 2 percent of packaging is recycled into equivalent products, with most reprocessing resulting in downcycled, lower-quality material.

Plastics are mostly petrochemical-based. If current trends continue, plastic production and incineration could consume 15 percent of the global carbon budget under the 1.5°C Paris goal by 2050.

The linear economy does not merely spill waste, it spills opportunity.

A Defining Global Moment: The UN Plastics Treaty and Why It Matters

In March 2022, the United Nations Environment Assembly launched a process to create a legally binding global plastics treaty, an agreement poised to govern the production, design, and end-of-life fate of plastics worldwide.

The treaty, moving toward its final stages, is intended to:

Cover the full lifecycle of plastic, including raw material sourcing, product design, and post-use waste,

Standardize design guidance and data reporting,

Phase out harmful single-use formats and additives,

Channel financing toward infrastructure in developing nations,

Codify responsibility for plastic producers via extended producer responsibility (EPR).

What Comes Next: August 2025 Geneva Outcomes

The much-anticipated fifth session of negotiations (INC-5.2) for the Global Plastics Treaty in Geneva concluded in mid-August 2025 without a finalized agreement. Deep divides remain over ambition, financial responsibility, and implementation. Delegates ultimately agreed to extend talks and reconvene later in the year, with strong public commitments to continue pursuing a robust global framework. While international policy hit pause, local and market-driven efforts are proceeding at full speed, with many ecosystem actors determined to act ahead of regulation.[25][26][27][28]

Circularity as the Future of Plastics

A circular economy for plastics upends linearity. Instead of accepting disposal as fate, the circular framework keeps materials in use at their highest value:

Elimination of unnecessary plastics,

Product and packaging redesign for uniformity, reusability, and recyclability,

Investment in closed-loop recovery systems through cross-sector partnerships.

Analysis from SYSTEMIQ and Pew shows that, combined with infrastructure and supportive policy, circularity can:

Lower ocean plastic leakage by up to 80 percent by 2040,

Generate $200 billion annually in economic benefits globally,

Create hundreds of thousands of green jobs, many in emerging markets.

Innovation Pathways Shaping the Circular Plastics Ecosystem

While policymakers negotiate, innovators are busy building the future. Across the plastics value chain, founders and investors are deploying creative solutions in several high-impact areas:

Examples of startups and impact areas in the circular plastics ecosystem.

At SeaAhead, programs like BlueSwell connect these innovators with funding, partners, and expertise. Kai Pono Solutions enhanced storm water drains intercept plastic before it enters our oceans, Biotic Labs develops bio-based and biodegradable polymers as a drop-in replacement for traditional plastics , and Usefull enables scalable, convenient refill systems for food packaging. Across the ecosystem, founders benefit from networking and mentorship, which helps translate pilots into scalable, investible solutions.[31][32][33]

The most dynamic startups are using this moment to collaborate with major brands, city governments, and NGOs, synchronizing their business models with shifting market and policy demands.

Conclusion: Innovation as a Systemic Lever for Circular Plastics

The fight to end plastic pollution stands at a critical inflection point. While global policy is still being hammered out, innovators and investors are already shaping the next chapter—using new materials, advanced recycling, interception, and digital infrastructure to drive real change.

Success will come from connecting across silos, being bold with systems-level thinking, and embracing the complexity of the challenge. The future of plastics won’t be dictated only by treaties signed in Geneva but by the world’s ability to scale and integrate solutions at every stage of the value chain.

The models exist and the motivation is clear—the time for disciplined, collaborative implementation is now.

References

Sterman, J.D. (2012). "Sustaining Sustainability: Creating a Systems Science in a Fragmented Academy and Polarized World." In M.P. Weinstein and R.E. Turner (eds.), Sustainability Science, Springer.

Ellen MacArthur Foundation, The New Plastics Economy (2021–2023)

McKinsey & Ocean Conservancy, Stemming the Tide (2022)

United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), Turning Off the Tap (2023)

SYSTEMIQ & Pew Charitable Trusts, Breaking the Plastic Wave (2020)

Financial Times and World Plastics Council, Revaluing Waste: The Future of Plastic as a Commodity (July 15, 2025)

Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC-5.2), Geneva 2025[26][27][28][25]

WWF, Global Plastic Treaty Tracker, 2023–2025

Closed Loop Partners, Investments in Circular Infrastructure, 2024 Overview

Works consulted:

Re-evaluating Waste and the Future of Plastics as a Commodity

Venture Innovation for the Ocean

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