The Global Plastics Alliance (GPA) released its Fifth Progress Report announcing approximately 395 marine litter prevention projects that have been planned, underway, or completed as of early 2020.
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Global Plastics Alliance announces fourfold increase in projects to combat marine litter
The GPA, a collaboration among plastic industry associations around the world, said the accounting of projects represents an increase of four times the amount since 2011 when the group was formed.
The projects vary widely, from beach clean-ups to expanding waste management capacities, and from global research to awareness and education campaigns.
Keith Christman, Managing Director of Plastics Markets, American Chemistry Council, said: “We began this important initiative nearly a decade ago and have worked to grow our reach and impact in every region of the world. Projects to combat marine litter have grown fourfold and we continue growing the number of stakeholders involved.”
The work began when a handful of plastics industry associations committed to action at the Fifth International Marine Debris Conference (5IMDC) by announcing The Declaration of the Global Plastics Associations for Solutions on Marine Litter, also known as the “Global Declaration.”
The latest report reflects work undertaken by 80 plastics associations that have signed the Global Declaration in 43 countries.
Virginia Janssens, Managing Director of PlasticsEurope, added: “Solving plastics litter requires global collaboration and bold actions. We need strong partnerships between an interconnected plastics value chain and all stakeholders, be they local, national or global, to solve this problem and develop innovative, sustainable solutions.”
The six focus areas of the Global Declaration are education, research, public policy, sharing best practices, plastics recycling/recovery, and plastic pellet containment.
The global plastics industry continues to move toward more circular systems where resources are used, reused, and recycled to the greatest extent possible. Many of their efforts will focus on developing the waste management infrastructure to capture and repurpose plastics in parts of the world where most of the trash is leaking into the ocean.
