UK Plastics Pact will Eradicate Single-Use Plastics

The UK Plastics Pact is the first of its kind and will probably be replicated in other countries. The pact is led by The Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP), a UK not-for-profit organization. The pact is a multi-sectoral collaboration which brings together businesses from across the entire plastics value chain, with UK governments and NGOs also on board to tackle the scourge of plastic waste and to transform packaging.

Objectives of the UK Plastics Pact to be met by 2025

Eliminate problematic or unnecessary single-use plastic packaging through redesign, innovation or alternative (re-use) delivery models.
100 percent of plastic packaging to be reusable, recyclable or compostable.
70 percent of plastic packaging effectively recycled or composted.
30 percent average recycled content across all plastic packaging.

The 42 members of the pact are responsible for over 80 percent of the plastic packaging on products sold throughout UK supermarkets. The Ellen MacArthur foundation and WRAP are behind the initiative.

This type of initiatives are called self-regulation and is a kind of industry practice to avoid stringent regulation. The advantage of self-regulation is that it will lead to fast implementation because it’s voluntary and slow legislative process and political debates are removed from the equation. However, nobody is obliged to sign the pact and there will be free riders. There are no sanctions for the free riders or for the signatories who do not respect their engagement. The Plastic revolution is in progress.

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What is the UK Plastics Pact?

The UK Plastics Pact is a trailblazing, collaborative initiative that will create a circular economy for plastics. It brings together businesses from across the entire plastics value chain with UK governments and NGOs to tackle the scourge of plastic waste.