Plastic issues cover a wide range from waste such as bottles and cans to microplastics and are inseparable from the lives of the general public. The environmental problems caused using many plastics have long been widely recognized around the world. Blindly recycling can no longer solve the huge plastic pollutants. Seeking a comprehensive transformation of the system is the fundamental way.
New Plastic Economy Global Commitment
To accelerate the promotion of the global new plastics economy, Post-Consumer Plastic's role has jumped from cost reduction to green appeal, and it has also triggered new business opportunities for the recycling and reuse of waste plastics.
What are the global new plastics economic commitment?
To allow plastics to enter the circular economy and reduce plastic pollution, the Ellen MacArthur Foundation and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) have jointly promoted the "New Plastics Economy Global Commitment". The pledge was officially launched in October 2018. As of May 2019, more than 350 governments, enterprises, financial institutions, and academic institutions have signed the pledge and are working together to promote the vision of a plastic circular economy.
The commitment content is mainly composed of six aspects:
- Improve poorly designed or unnecessary plastic packaging through green design.
- Develop a reuse model to reduce the need for disposable packaging.
- All plastic packaging materials should be 100% reusable and can be recycled or composted.
- All plastic packaging should be reused after use and can be recycled or composted.
- The manufacture of plastics should be decoupled from the consumption of fossil resources.
- All plastic packaging does not contain harmful chemical substances to ensure the safety and rights of related personnel.
Compliance matters
The global commitments also set the goals and obligations that they need to achieve according to the nature of different units, and clearly distinguish between governments, enterprises, and other commitment signatories (including non-profit organizations, academic institutions, financial institutions, etc.) in the plastic cycle. The role that should be played. Take the company as an example. In addition to agreeing with the above six common visions, companies that have signed the "New Plastic Economy Global Commitment" must also abide by the following commitments:
- Companies, retailers, tourism, food, and packaging manufacturers that use packaged goods must
- Eliminate unnecessary or problematic plastic packaging in 2025
- Achieve a reusable business model in 2025 to replace the one-time use of plastic
- Full use of 100% reusable, recyclable, or compostable plastic packaging in 2025
- In 2025, set a target for the proportion of recyclable plastic used for all plastic packaging used
- The raw material manufacturer must set that 75% of the raw materials come from renewable materials by 2025 and purchase from the source of the responsible management of the raw materials
- Recycling companies must set a 2025 target to increase the production and quality of renewable/compostable plastics while reducing the total amount of plastics that are buried and incinerated
- Manufacturers of durable goods must determine the proportion of recyclable plastic in the use of all products or components containing plastic components in 2025
- Plastic industry suppliers must set relevant goals to help the plastics industry achieve various commitments
- Investors must have large-scale investments in enterprises, technology, or other assets that contribute to the vision of a plastic circular economy by 2025
- Commit to mutual assistance and cooperation to increase the proportion of reusable, recyclable, or compostable plastics, and at the same time publicly release an implementation progress report every year to review the status of the commitment.
"New Plastics Economy Global Commitment" has more than 450 signatories, these companies produce or use 20% of the world's plastic packaging, many of which are well-known companies, such as L'Oréal, Nestlé, Coca-Cola, Unilever, Walmart, etc.
The pledge also revealed for the first time the annual output and usage of plastic packaging by signatories. Companies such as Carrefour, Colgate, Nestle, Coca Cola, Unilever, etc. have publicly exposed their plastic footprint. In addition, the companies that have signed the commitments have also begun to further adopt relevant plastic reduction plans. Among them, 16 companies with annual revenues of more than US$550 billion have drawn up a specific timetable to phase out Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plastic packaging, and 12 companies to prepare to eliminate disposable plastic straws, 40 companies will develop innovative plastic packaging reuse models.
To accelerate the promotion of the global new plastic economy, the pledge also includes financial institutions. At present, 26 financial institutions have joined, with a total of 4.2 trillion US dollars in assets under management. Six of these financial institutions have pledged to invest US$275 million in the development of plastic circular economy business models, plastic materials, and plastic technologies. Through the participation of financial institutions, they will provide important financial assistance for plastics in the transition to a circular economy.
