Strong, lightweight plastics contribute to sustainability in countless ways—all of which stem from their ability to help us do more with less. Plastic packaging helps to dramatically extend the shelf life of fresh, nutritious foods and beverages while allowing us to ship more product with less packaging material.
Plastics can significantly reduce energy use while lowering greenhouse gas emissions by making our homes and cars significantly more energy and fuel efficient. And plastics deliver clean, safe drinking water while helping to make health care more affordable, so more people can have access to the devices they need to live safely and get the most out of life.
However, we can’t realize all of plastics sustainability benefits if we don’t keep plastic waste out of our environment. A systems approach to addressing plastic waste and marine debris is needed to enable rapid scaling of innovations and investments to reduce sources of leakage and increase circularity of plastics. ICCA members agree with UNEA, APEC, the G-20, G-7, and a growing number of scientists and experts that investing in improved municipal solid waste management is the highest priority.
ICCA remains committed to achieving the safe management of chemicals and waste globally, but change is needed to ensure the recycling, recovery, and reuse of plastics so that they do not end up in our environment or our ocean.
Many of our member companies have joined the new Alliance to End Plastic Waste. Together, the Alliance and its nearly 50 member companies and supporters have partnered with government, environmental and economic NGOs and communities to address the plastic waste challenge. The Alliance is focused on solutions to prevent plastic leakage into our ocean, as well as to recover and create value from used plastics. Many also are members of the World Plastics Council, a forum for industry leadership and to accelerate cooperation and alignment that will deliver improved outcomes for the common benefit of the plastics industry, consumers and society. And, since 2011 our industry has partnered in many efforts to research and prevent marine debris around the world under our “Declaration of the Global Plastics Solutions for Solutions on Marine Litter,” which has been signed by 80 plastics associations in 40 countries. Our 5th Progress Report lists more than 395 projects that have been completed or are in progress in various parts of the world since the effort began.
ICCA remains committed to achieving the safe management of chemicals and waste globally, but change is needed to ensure the recycling, recovery, and reuse of plastics so that they do not end up in our environment or our ocean.
