Today, the US Plastics Pact — a consortium launched in
August
by The Recycling Partnership and World Wildlife Fund (WWF), as part of
the Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s global Plastics Pact Network — unveiled an
aggressive national strategy to ensure all plastic packaging will be reusable,
recyclable or compostable by 2025.
Roadmap to 2025 is supported by nearly
100 corporations, startups, research entities, NGOs, universities, and state and
local governments across the plastics packaging value chain; and includes
mandatory reporting and specific timeframes for realizing meaningful and
targeted outcomes for a truly circular plastics economy.
“The current state of US infrastructure, coupled with the lack of incentives to
utilize recycled content in plastic packaging, have put immense strain on the
value chain,” said Emily Tipaldo, Executive Director of The US Plastics
Pact. “The Roadmap is designed to help US industry leaders act on the
significant, systemwide change needed to realize a circular economy for plastics
by 2025. The time frame is short, and the workload is immense — but if we choose
to do nothing, the visions of a circular economy across the US will give way to
the status quo. We look forward to working with all our members to drive this
critical change.”
With 2025 fast approaching, the Roadmap follows ambitious precedents set by
other Pacts in the Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s global Plastics Pact Network,
with hopes of bringing one unifying voice to plastic packaging guidelines,
policy, education, labeling, access, and infrastructure.
Unlike any other
existing US initiative, the US Pact provides overarching leadership and
accountability by aligning to develop a national strategy, advance shared goals,
and measure the strength of progress through annual reporting.
The US Pact — whose founding signatories (known as Activators) include over 60
of the world’s largest CPG companies and retailers — including 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, the Ocean Plastics
Leadership Network (fka Soul
Buffalo),
Target, TerraCycle,
Unilever US and Walmart
— developed the Roadmap to ensure systemic change and accelerate progress toward
four specific targets that address plastic waste at its source:
1. Define a list of packaging to be designated as problematic or unnecessary by 2021, and take measures to eliminate them by 2025.
2. 100 percent of plastic packaging will be reusable, recyclable or compostable
by 2025.
3. By 2025, undertake ambitious actions to effectively recycle or compost 50
percent of plastic packaging.
4. By 2025, the average recycled content or responsibly sourced biobased
content
in plastic packaging will be 30 percent.
Through the Roadmap, the US Pact and its Activators say they will tackle each of
these 2025 targets by inspiring and supporting upstream innovation through an
ecosystem of coordinated stakeholder initiatives. By rethinking products,
packaging, and business models, Activators will accelerate the transition away
from today’s take-make-waste model to a circular economy where plastics never
become waste.
"To meaningfully address the plastic waste crisis in the United States, we must
unite the critical stakeholders — industry leaders, waste management systems,
and policymakers — under a cohesive action plan," said Erin Simon, Head of
Plastic Waste and Business at WWF. "The Roadmap will be the
key for setting a national strategy that reaches our set targets and measures
our progress in a consistent, transparent manner.”
The Roadmap is driven by US Pact Activators that utilize working groups to
leverage experience from existing programs, optimize investments, identify gaps,
and aid in pooling funding for areas in
need.
The Roadmap reflects national priorities and realities while propelling the US
closer to other developed nations in its management of plastic waste.
“As a founding member of The US Plastics Pact, we are proud to lead this new
Roadmap rollout that aligns with Henkel’s mission to develop solutions that
minimize and manage plastic waste. Through our new ambitious packaging targets,
we are making great strides to reduce our use of virgin plastic and to integrate
materials from sustainable sources into packaging designs for our laundry and
beauty products,” said Jillaine Dellis, Head of Sustainability for Henkel
North America’s Consumer Products business. “We are fully committed to reaching
these targets by 2025 to ensure we’re one step closer to achieving a circular
economy in the US.”
The Roadmap aims to provide a significant step forward in realizing a circular
economy for plastics and create a pathway through which companies, governments
and NGOs can successfully ensure that plastics remain in the economy and out of
the environment for years to come.
For more on the US Pact’s full roadmap, please visit
usplasticspact.org/roadmap.
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Sustainable Brands Staff
Published Jun 15, 2021 2pm EDT / 11am PDT / 7pm BST / 8pm CEST