Iron ore billionaire Andrew Forrest determined stop plastic flowing into world’s oceans

Once best known for making billions in iron ore, Andrew Forrest now has a plan to rid the world of single-use plastic – by raising its price, just slightly. Here’s how it would work.

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Andrew “Twiggy” Forrest says single-use plastics are a scourge on the planet, and “we’ve got to go after it hard” to stop what he sees as a potential disaster on a global scale.

The iron ore billionaire, who now devotes most of his time to the Minderoo Foundation into which he and wife Nicola have pumped $1.5 billion, told an Adelaide audience today “we simply don’t need single-use plastics”.

The Forrests started their first national tour communicating the eight key focus areas of the Foundation at a breakfast in Adelaide this morning.

Mr Forrest, who recently completed a PhD in marine ecology, said the phytoplankton in the world’s oceans were the lungs of the planet, and while we hadn’t yet destroyed them “we’re working out a way to do that’’.

Andrew Forrest, wife Nicola and daughter Grace, who are all involved in the Minderoo Foundation. Picture: Tricia Watkinson

In order to ensure this doesn’t happen, Mr Forrest and the Foundation have committed $US300 million to a campaign to end plastic waste as part of its Sea the Future program, and they are taking their message to the world stage through avenues such as the United Nations and the Davos World Economic Forum.

Mr Forrest said while plastic was “reasonably harmless in the economy”, once it entered the natural environment it was “a huge problem’’.

“It never, ever goes back to its original molecule. It just gets smaller and smaller,’’ he said.

“It just gets more dangerous the smaller it gets. That’s what the world is slowly becoming aware to.’’

Andrew Forrest pictured along Swan River, Perth WA.

Mr Forrest said the key to keeping plastics “within the economy” and out of nature, was to ensure there was an economic imperative to recycle it.

He is advocating for the world’s 60 largest plastic resin producers to slightly increase the cost of their products – which would result in a minuscule extra cost to consumers – but would make plastics recycling viable economically.

“The idea of the Sea the Future initiative allows fossil-fuel plastic to become more expensive than recycled plastic in a manner that the petrochemical companies who pay the contribution which pushes the value of fossil fuel plastic up get that money fully reimbursed,’’ Mr Forrest said.

“Then they get to use that to reconfigure their supply chain to get polymers from plastic rather than from fossil fuels. They also get the accolade for this.’’

Mr Forrest said if industry didn’t address the issue itself, a policy push from governments would be necessary so he was urging the plastics sector to move first.

The Foundation is also advocating strongly for an increase in the legal age to buy cigarettes from 18 to 21.

Andrew Forrest in his former role as chief executive of Fortescue Metals Group, at the Cloud Break mine in WA’s Pilbara region.

Mr Forrest said the research showed that if people did not smoke before the age of 21, they were unlikely to take it up, and it remained by far the largest cause of unnecessary deaths globally.

Mr Forrest said the Foundation was a “pool of capital and leadership” designed to “leave Australia a better place than you found it”.

Ms Forrest said with the new injection of capital into the foundation this year – an extra $655 million – it was important to get out and spread the message to other states, with presentations scheduled for Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Canberra, Hobart and finishing in Perth next week.