How the war on plastic could boost your Isa

tHE war on plastic intensified last week when theresa May threw her weight behind the Mail’s campaign to stop bags, bottles and containers polluting our oceans.

And yesterday iceland — one of Britain’s best-known supermarkets with more than 900 stores — pledged to remove all plastic packaging from its own-label products within five years.

As firms are forced to stop using harmful plastics, new materials are being developed that decompose and are better for the environment.

so can you tap into this new trend to give your isa a boost?

Every year, more than eight million tons of plastic finds its way into the ocean, the equivalent of dumping the contents of a rubbish truck into our waters every minute. Much of this will take more than 500 years to decompose.

Waste management company suez, is helping to clear the ocean of plastic and reusing it. Last year, the Paris-based firm teamed up with Procter & Gamble, makers of Head & shoulders shampoo, to create the world’s first recycled shampoo bottle out of plastic found on beaches.

Washed-up plastic is notoriously difficult to recycle because exposure to the sun’s ultraviolet rays can cause decay, making it difficult to reuse.

However, suez has pioneered a new technique. the plastic is collected by volunteers and sent to recycling experts terraCycle, which sorts it.

it then goes to suez, which cleans it and grinds it into pellets. these are sent to Procter & Gamble, which turns them into new shampoo bottles.

P&G, which also makes Fairy washing-up liquid, says that within a year it will source at least a quarter of the plastic in its shampoo bottles from recycled beach plastic. that is equal to more than 90 pc of all of the hair care bottles sold in Europe each year.

Damien Lardoux, of adviser EQ investors, says savers can invest through the Wheb sustainability Fund, which backs a host of health, environmental and clean-energy companies including suez.

this fund has turned a £10,000 investment into £19,701 over the past five years.

Veolia, also based in Paris, is another recycling firm turning old plastic bottles into pellets. it has sorting facilities in rainham, Essex and Dagenham, East London.

the firm uses a slightly different technique: it turns the plastic into flakes which are sold to manufacturers to make fleeces, pipes and even garden furniture. Ben Yearsley, of adviser shore Financial Planning, recommends Pictet Water for savers who would like to back Veolia. the fund invests £3.74 in every £100 of savers’ cash in the firm and has turned £10,000 into £18,871 in five years.

suez is also one of the fund’s top picks, accounting for 3.26pc of all the money it invests. Another way to invest in the war against plastic waste is the impax Environmental Markets Fund, says ryan Hughes, of broker AJ Bell. the fund, which has turned £10,000 into £25,011 in five years, has a stake in Norwegian recycling company tomra, which accounts for £2.37 in every £100 of savers’ cash. tomra is a world leader in reverse vending machines, which help to sort plastic bottles and packaging so that they can be recycled. instead of buying a can of fizzy drink or a bag of crisps from these machines, you use them to deposit old plastic bottles and wrappers for recycling, usually in return for a little cash. tomra, based in Asker, southeast Norway, has at least 75,000 vending machines in more than 60 countries, which collect 35 billion drinks containers a year. Darius McDermott, of broker Chelsea Financial services, recommends Pictet timber for environmentally-conscious investors who want to make good returns.

the fund invests in a tennesseebased firm called international Paper Co, which creates fibrebased packaging.

One of its products is the Ecotainer range of paper cups and containers that are used to hold hot and cold drinks, plus foods such as fruit and ice cream.

the containers are made from plant materials which are sourced from sustainable forests. they are also biodegradable, meaning they break down and therefore will not linger as rubbish for decades — unlike plastic rivals.

Pictet timber, which invests £3.10 in every £100 in international Paper Co, has turned a £10,000 investment into £17,146 in five years.