Global Commitment 2020: Progress made, but acceleration needed to meet targets on reducing plastic waste and pollution

19/02/2021

     The Ellen MacArthur Foundation and UN Environment Programme (UNEP) have recently published their second annual New Plastics Economy Global Commitment Progress report, together with detailed data on the progress of individual business and government signatories.

     The Global Commitment 2020 Progress Report shows there has been significant progress in two key areas: the incorporation of recycled content in plastic packaging, and the phase out of the most commonly identified problematic items, such as PS and PVC packaging, undetectable carbon black pigments and single-use plastic bags and straws.

     However, there has been limited progress on increasing recyclability of plastic packaging and on reducing the need for single-use packaging altogether: progress on shifting towards reusable packaging is limited, and elimination efforts remain focused on a relatively small set of materials and formats.

     There are also significant differences in the rate of progress between signatories – while some have taken big steps forward, others have shown little to no progress against quantitative targets.

     It is encouraging to see initial progress being made by signatories in year one after signing the Global Commitment, but a substantial acceleration of progress will be needed to achieve the 2025 targets.

     Key Findings

• Recycled content in plastic packaging grew by 22% year on year, to 6.2% on average for packaged goods and retail signatories.
• 31% of packaged goods and retail signatories — 18 in total — now have targets in place to reduce virgin plastic in packaging or reduce plastic packaging altogether.
• Elimination efforts remain focused on a relatively small set of materials and formats, and are being delivered primarily through substitution towards other plastics or paper, or lightweighting (often by reducing thickness, for example), rather than by reducing the need for single-use packaging altogether
• Reusable packaging increased marginally from the prior year (by 0.1 percentage points) and remains low at 1.9% for packaged goods and retail signatories, while we do see a further increase in reuse pilotting activity.
• Substantial investments towards achieving the 2025 targets have been reported, bringing the total amount publicly committed by Global Commitment signatories to more than USD 10 billion.

     There are substantial differences in progress between signatories – while some have taken big steps forward, others have shown little to no progress against quantitative targets

     Sander Defruyt, New Plastics Economy lead at the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, said: “This report shows encouraging progress towards the vision for a circular economy for plastic in some areas, particularly in the use of recycled plastic. But, going forward it will be crucial to also see major steps forward in rethinking what packaging is put on the market in the first place. We are calling on industry to rapidly increase efforts to reduce single-use packaging and eliminate packaging types that have no credible pathway to making recycling work in practice and at scale. We know industry cannot deliver the change alone, and we are calling on policymakers to put in place the enabling conditions, incentives and international framework to accelerate this transition.“

     The Ellen MacArthur Foundation and UN Environment Programme have made four calls to action that are vital to eradicating plastic pollution:

     We call on businesses to:

     • Take bold action on packaging types that are not recyclable today - either developing and executing  a credible roadmap to make recycling work, or decisively innovating away from them
     • Set ambitious reduction targets Recognising that voluntary action by industry alone cannot deliver change on the scale and at the pace needed,

     We call on governments to:

     • Establish policies and mechanisms, that provide dedicated and stable funding for collection and sorting, through fair industry contributions, such as EPR, without which recycling is unlikely to ever scale
     • Set a global direction and create an international framework for action, through the UN Environment Assembly, building on the vision for a circular economy for plastics.

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