The Plastic Disclosure Project is taking a page from carbon and water disclosure efforts by asking companies to report on their plastic use and management plans.

The project was launched at the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) annual meeting and is focused on reducing the amount of plastic waste around the world. Modeled after the Carbon Disclosure Project's carbon and water programs, it will survey companies annually on behalf of the world's investment community.

Companies will be asked to report on plastic use in their operations and supply chain, as well as their plastic management plans and governance efforts.

The CGI hopes the project will spur investment firm managers and companies to use the reported information to think about how to reduce plastic use, how to redesign products and where money can be saved when it comes to plastic.

The survey will be organized by Project Kaisei, an ocean clean-up initiative, in collaboration with the Association for Sustainable & Responsible Investment in Asia and the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, which will provide research for the project. The first survey is planned for the first half of 2011.

Credit Suisse has already committed to include plastic-related strategies and issues in its analysis of its portfolio companies' environmental and social impacts.