Led by the nonprofit Waste & Resources Action Programme (WRAP), the United Kingdom has launched a major initiative which will bring together businesses from across the entire plastics value chain with U.K. governments and NGOs to tackle issue of plastic waste.
Plastic Pact, launched April 26, currently includes 42 businesses, including major food, drink and non-food brands, manufacturers and retailers through to plastic re-processors and packaging suppliers.
The pact members include materials giant Sabic, bottler Coca-Cola European Partners and consumer products firm Unilever to name a few, and are responsible for more than 80 percent of the plastic packaging on products sold through U.K. supermarkets, said WRAP in a statement.
The initiative sets out a series of ambitious targets by 2025, including eliminating unnecessary single-use plastic packaging through redesign, innovation or reusable delivery models.
As part of the pact, 100 percent of plastic packaging should be reusable, recyclable or compostable by 2025.
Also, 70 percent of plastic packaging should be effectively recycled or composted, and a 30 percent average recycled content should be observed across all plastic packaging.
The pact is part of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation's New Plastics Economy initiative, to which WRAP is committed.
“This requires a wholescale transformation of the plastics system and can only be achieved by bringing together all links in the chain under a shared commitment to act,” said WRAP CEO Marcus Gover.
Ellen MacArthur, founder of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, said:
“This bold new pact will bring together businesses, policymakers and the public to create a circular economy for plastics that tackles the causes of plastics waste and pollution, not just the symptoms,” said Ellen MacArthur, founder of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation.
According to MacArthur, the initiative will focus on innovation, better packaging design and end-of-use systems, to generate long-term benefits for the environment as well economic opportunities.
“We encourage others around the world to help drive this momentum towards finding global solutions to what is a global problem,” she said.