On Thursday, the sustainability campaign group, Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) announced that 42 businesses. including major food, drink and non-food brands, manufacturers and retailers right through to plastic reprocessors and packaging suppliers have signed the UK Plastics Pact.
The pact, launched today, is a unique collaboration of businesses from across the entire plastics value chain with UK governments and NGOs to tackle the scourge of plastic waste, pledging that 100 percent of plastic packaging will be reusable, recyclable or compostable by a target date of 2025, reports the BBC.
Other targets include 70 percent of plastic packaging has to be effectively recycled or composted, and all plastic packaging will be made with at least 30 percent recycled plastics, according to Reuters.
This latest Plastic Pact is in response to Prime Minister Theresa May’s pledge to eradicate avoidable plastic waste in Britain by 2042 as part of her “national plan of action.” Her government is looking at a couple of options to help her plan move forward, including banning some products and taxing others in an attempt to get people’s attention concerning the plastics issue.
According to WRAP officials, the 42 companies that signed onto the pact today are responsible for over 80 percent of the plastic packaging on products sold through UK supermarkets. Market leader Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Walmart’s Asda, Morrisons, Marks & Spencer, discounters Aldi and Lidl have all signed up. Other signatories include the UK government and trade associations.
“Together, we have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to rethink and reshape the future of plastic so that we retain its value, and curtail the damage plastic waste wreaks on our planet,” said WRAP CEO Marcus Gover.
“This requires a whole scale transformation of the plastics system and can only be achieved by bringing together all links in the chain under a shared commitment to act,” Gover added. “That is what makes the UK Plastics Pact unique. It unites every body, business and organisation with a will to act on plastic pollution. We will never have a better time to act, and together we can.”
Pact supported by Ellen MacArthur Foundation
Ellen MacArthur is the yachtswoman who broke the solo record for sailing around the world in 2005, but she has long campaigned for plastics to be reused and recycled. She and her foundation are also active in getting the world to pursue a circular economy, one that is restorative and regenerative by design.
Research done by the foundation shows that 95 percent of all plastic products around the world are only used once. In discussing the UK Plastic Pact, MacArthur said, the pact would create “a circular economy for plastics that tackles the causes of plastics waste and pollution, not just the symptoms.”
“Focusing on innovation, better packaging design and end-of-use systems will not only generate long-term benefits for the environment, but is also a huge economic opportunity.”
Hopefully, the Plastic Pact will be a starting point for more positive action in reducing our use of plastics, simply because there is so much more that needs to be done to save our planet.
