Keeping Plastics Out of the Environment
America’s Plastic Makers® are committed to doing our part to end plastic waste in the environment. Solving this multi-dimensional global plastic waste problem requires an “all hands-on deck” approach, so we are working and partnering with scientists, conservation groups and government agencies from across the globe toward real, workable solutions that lead to a future in which all plastics are recovered and repurposed to benefit people and our planet. We want to be clear: Plastic waste in our environment—in our ocean—is unacceptable, and we’re doing something about it.
See what we’re doing to end plastic waste in California:
Here are four steps America’s Plastic Makers are taking to end plastic waste in the environment:
1
Collaboration
We are working to help stop the flow of plastics into the ocean, with an initial focus on rapidly developing countries where population and economic growth has outpaced the development of waste management systems, and on rivers that carry vast amounts of waste out to sea.
Our members are leaders and initial founders of the new non-profit called the Alliance to End Plastic Waste. This new Alliance is composed of leading global companies across the plastic value chain (including chemical and plastic makers, brand owner and retailers, plastic converters and waste management companies) that have committed to invest at least $1.5 billion over five years in infrastructure, innovation, education and engagement and cleanup.
We have created a global network of plastic industry groups and trade associations that have committed to delivering projects in six key areas (recycling, education, enforcement of litter laws, research, developing partnerships, and stewardship of plastic pellets) and transparently reporting on progress. This network currently includes 75 plastics associations in 40 countries, which have launched some 355 projects, 111 of which are happening now in North America.
2
Infrastructure Development
We are investing in research and development to deliver essential infrastructure to collect and manage waste, and specifically to increase recycling in the United States and in developing nations. Research shows the vast majority of marine litter comes from areas without access to waste management and recycling. Some of our investments are partnerships with organizations like Circulate Capital, the Ocean Conservancy’s Trash Free Seas Alliance®, the Recycling Partnership, and Keep America Beautiful.
Circulate Capital: Investing to Reduce Plastic Pollution in South & Southeast Asia
Stemming the Tide: Land-based Strategies for a Plastic-free Ocean
The Recycling Partnership- Plastics Don’t Belong in Our Oceans: Chemical Recycling and Plastics-to-Fuel Technologies Are Part of the Solution
- Keep America Beautiful
3
Circular Economy Goals
We have pledged to achieve a circular economy for plastic packaging, leading to 100 percent recovery of plastic packaging by 2040. This will require optimizing recycling programs to capture as much plastic as possible and deploying advanced recycling and recovery technologies that convert plastics into new high-performance products.
4
Improved Packaging Design
We are working across the plastics value chain to improve the design, efficiency and recyclability of plastic packaging. Lighter, smarter design will help further minimize the environmental footprint of plastic packaging and make it easier to collect, sort, and repurpose plastics.
We agree plastic waste is a problem, but are bans the best solution?
Plastics are so widely used in packaging because they’re strong and lightweight, so they help us do more with less. Specifically, plastics can protect and allow us to ship more product with less packaging material than alternatives. Using less packaging material in the first place also means reducing transportation energy, greenhouse gas emissions, and waste.
Bans aren’t the right solutions because if we weren’t able to use plastics, we’d have to use heavier substitutes for many items. Research shows that on average, the combined weight of substitutes would weigh about 4.5 times more than plastics. In the United States alone, using plastics in packaging instead of alternatives saves: as much greenhouse gas emissions as taking 8.4 million cars off the roads; enough energy to heat 48 million homes; as much as 290,000 jumbo jets worth of waste by weight, and as much as 461,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools of water in production1.
But we must stop the flow of trash into our oceans in order for plastics’ important environmental benefits to be fully realized. America’s Plastics Makers are working across the United States and around the world to help solve this problem.
Experts say up to 60% of plastic waste comes from just five countries. Although the United States accounts for less than 1% of trash in the ocean, we are committed to working with communities so that 100% of plastic packaging is reused, recycled or recovered.