Only 9% of the plastic that’s ever been produced has been recycled – meaning 91% has been buried in landfills, burned, or dumped into oceans.
The Ellen MacArthur Foundation states that by 2050 there will be more plastic in the ocean than fish.
At the same time, hundreds of world’s largest corporations who produce more than half of all plastic packaging claim that only 6% of their demand for recycled plastic is currently met.
While we wait for this gap to be filled, over 35 million tons of waste are produced annually in the United States alone.
The world wastes hundreds of millions of tons of plastic resources, and then produces even more virgin plastic.
The plastic recycling system, and the dominant paradigm for how it operates, is broken.
We find these current and future realities to be simply unacceptable and take them as a call to action
Read the White Paper
Plastic Diversion Initiative White paper – circular plastics parks
Related
Plastics in the Circular Economy
19 June 2020 – Chemically Recycled Content, Recycling in US and Korea, Plastic Free Beauty Day
15 June 2020 – Chemical Recycling Commitments and Incentives, Deep Sea Plastic, Greece Plastic Ban, NY Composting
12 June 2020 – Michigan Waste, Definitions, Greenpeace Malaysia, Tax and Voluntary Schemes, Shell Sustainable and Circular Plastics News
7 June 2020 – Industry 4.0, PEF, Perstorp, Timber and Chemical Recycling
5 June 2020 – Woodly, Plastic-Free Masks, Plastic Tax, UK & US Survey, Biodegradable War, Spain
3 June 2020 – Chemical Recycling Europe, Sustainability on Hold, Lyondellbasell, Ikea, Covestro
2 June 2020 – EU and Compostable Plastics, Biodegradable Additives, RWDC, Black Plastic, Oxo
1 June 2020 – Nestle, Denmark, Weather, Mitsui, Plastic Free July, Compost Shortage
31 May 2020 – Iowa, Zalando, Sabic, South Africa, Dow and Mondelez
29 May 2020 – China Scandal, Mitsubishi, Tyres, Flexible Packaging, Sargassum, Canada Lignin
27 May 2020 – SK Chemical, Borealis, Omya, Stora Enso, UPM, Dow and Good Natured