Feature
Following in the footsteps of the UK Plastics Pact
Andrea Falco.
Updates from The UK Plastics Pact annual report show progress in the fight against single-use in their footsteps? Andrea Falco provides comment on how businesses can conti
It’s undeniable that we’re facing a global climate emergency. Infiltrating everyday life, our use of single-use plastic is now accelerating the crisis at a dramatic pace. Every year in the UK, it’s estimated that
five million tonnes of plastic is used - nearly half of that is packaging. Alarmingly, one third of plastic produced globally is not recyclable, meaning it’s then sent to landfill or ends up in our natural environment. As plastic takes hundreds of years to degrade and break down into microplastics, the chemicals produced thus have an extremely harmful impact on our marine life, natural world and health. To combat this issue, companies across the nation are doing all in their power to improve sustainable efforts by signing up to the Plastics Pact. Led by Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP), this is the first in a global network of pacts, working towards the circular economy for plastics. By 2020 it aims to have all plastic packaging reused, recycled or composted by meeting four world-leading targets. Over 140 manufacturers, including Asda and P&G have already signed up. Although this is a huge step in the right
direction, immediate action is still required from all, but in particular from packaging plants, distribution centres and retailers in
40 fmuk
setting their own targets and investing in the right environmental technologies to eliminate single-use plastic.
Current climate
With millions of tonnes of microplastics being discarded into the environment every year, it’s no surprise that the material is now contaminating the air we breathe, the food we eat, and the water we drink. Although we’re all aware of its harmful impacts, the plastic industry is still the second largest and fastest-growing source of industrial greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and 99% of what goes into the material is derived from fossil fuels. Currently, GHG emissions from the plastic
lifecycle, which includes the transport of fossil fuels for production, its manufacture and waste management, are threatening the ability of the global community to keep global temperature rise below 1.5°C degrees. With fossil fuel companies looking to increase plastic production by 40% in the next decade this will only continue to exacerbate, and as some have claimed, create a “near permanent contamination of the natural environment”. Mismanagement and inappropriate disposal are now resulting in more than eight million tonnes of plastic waste entering our oceans and environment every year –
it’s even been found in the Mariana Trench, which is the deepest place on earth. A study has also revealed that plastic at the ocean’s surface continually releases methane and other greenhouse gases, and that these emissions increase as the material further disintegrates.
Progress so far
The Plastics Pact is fighting to transform the way the UK uses, makes and disposes of single-use plastic and our supermarkets are leading the way in tackling the problem. Last
supermarkets had already removed 3,400 tonnes
of
year, WRAP reported unnecessary
plastic that packaging
from fresh produce – the equivalent of 272 London buses – and 137.5m plastic stickers from fruit and vegetables. Stores such as Morrisons and Co-op have also removed black plastic (which cannot be recycled) from all of its own brand food and drink packaging. Beauty brands such as Unilever
and
Dove are also stepping up by moving to 100% recycled plastic bottles in Europe and North America – across all their ranges. To encourage recycling, soft drink brands such as Pepsi and Tango have also added a ‘please recycle me’ message to their bottles. Aside from the pact, a number of other initiatives, such as the government’s
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