Today, The Recycling Partnership and World Wildlife Fund (WWF)
launch the US Plastics Pact —
an ambitious initiative to unify diverse public-private stakeholders across the
plastics value chain to rethink the way we design, use, and reuse plastics; to
create a path toward a circular economy for plastic in the United States. The
initiative is being launched as part of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation's
global Plastics Pact network.
Expanding on the work done to eliminate plastic waste from corporate value
chains by the UK Plastics
Pact
— launched in 2018 with a number of the same players — and WWF’s work on the
same through its ReSource: Plastics
platform,
the US Plastics Pact brings together companies, government entities, NGOs,
researchers, and other stakeholders in a pre-competitive platform for
industry-led innovation. It will drive collaborative action and deliver a
significant system change toward a circular economy for plastic, enabling
companies and governments in the US to collectively meet impactful goals by 2025
that they could not otherwise meet on their own.
A new partnership, also launched today, between US Plastic Pact “Activators”
The Clorox Company and
Colgate-Palmolive with
Chilean startup
Algramo
— to scale up the zero-waste distribution of common household cleaning and
personal care products to the US market — is an excellent example of this kind
of collaboration already in progress.
"Plastic pollution is a global crisis that needs local solutions, and the United
States is one of biggest opportunities where regional interventions can result
in transformative change around the world," said Erin Simon, Head of Plastic
Waste and Business at WWF. "To do this, WWF sees the US Plastics Pact as the
linchpin for uniting the critical stakeholders — industry leaders, waste
management systems, and policymakers — under a common vision and action plan for
meaningful, measurable impact."
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In line with the Ellen McArthur Foundation's vision for a “new plastics
economy”
— which unites more than 850+ organizations, underpinned by common definitions
and concrete targets — the US Plastics Pact brings together plastic packaging
producers, brands, retailers, recyclers, waste management companies,
policymakers, and other stakeholders to work collectively toward scalable
solutions tailored to the unique needs and challenges within the U.S landscape,
through vital knowledge sharing and coordinated action.
As of today, more than 60 “Activators” — including for-profit companies,
government agencies, and NGOs — have joined the US Plastics Pact, representing
each part of the supply and plastics manufacturing chain. Participating
corporate Activators include The Clorox Company, Closed Loop
Partners, The
Coca-Cola Company, Colgate-Palmolive Company, Danone North
America,
Eastman, Henkel
Corporation, Kimberly-Clark, L'Oréal
USA, Mars, Inc; Molson
Coors, Mondelēz International,
Nestlé, Soul
Buffalo,
Target,
TerraCycle, Unilever
US and Walmart.
By joining the US Plastics Pact, Activators agree to collectively deliver on
four targets:
-
Define a list of packaging to be designated as problematic or unnecessary by
2021 and take measures to eliminate them by 2025.
-
By 2025, all plastic packaging is 100% reusable, recyclable, or compostable.
-
By 2025, undertake ambitious actions to effectively recycle or compost 50%
of plastic packaging.
-
By 2025, the average recycled content or responsibly sourced bio-based
content in plastic packaging will be 30%.
“L’Oréal is committed to doing our part to protect the planet from the global
climate crisis we are facing, and we are transforming our business to do
so, said Danielle Azoulay, Head of CSR and Sustainability at L’Oréal
USA. “We know that the impact of our global sustainability commitment, L’Oréal
for the Future, will reach its full potential through collaboration — across our
entire value chain, our industry and beyond it. We are proud to be part of the
US Plastics Pact and join over 60 organizations in working together toward
system-wide change toward a circular economy for plastic in the United States.”
Results of measurable change in each of the target areas and transparent
reporting are key outcomes of the US Plastics Pact. Progress of the US Pact will
be tracked through WWF's ReSource: Plastic Footprint Tracker, which provides
a standard methodology to track companies' plastic footprints and publicly
report on their plastic waste commitments each year. The report will be made
publicly available each year.
The next step for the US Plastics Pact will be to create a roadmap, laying out
the steps to achieving the targets outlined above. For more information on how
to join the US Plastics Pact and drive collective action, contact [email protected].
Read more about the Pact and find the full list of participating companies and
advisors
here.
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Sustainable Brands Staff
Published Aug 25, 2020 2pm EDT / 11am PDT / 7pm BST / 8pm CEST