Global brands' use of virgin plastic expected to drastically decrease by 2025

● The 2021 New Plastics Economy Global Commitment Progress Report shows that after decades of growth, the use of virgin plastics by brands and retailers that have signed the Global Commitment has shown signs of peaking in 2021 and is expected to decline by nearly 20 percent by 2025 %
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● The current progress is largely driven by recycling, but it is not enough to solve the problem of plastic pollution - there is an urgent need to step up efforts to phase out the use of single-use plastic packaging
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● Calls for a global agreement on plastic pollution are gaining momentum as never before
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Brands and retailers in the Global Commitment to a New Plastics Economy ("Global Commitment") have reduced the use of virgin plastic in their packaging for the second year in a row, new data shows
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Three years after the launch of the New Plastics Economy Global Commitment, the use of virgin plastics by signatories has shown signs of peaking and is currently declining, the Ellen MacArthur Foundation and the United Nations Environment Programme jointly said
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The Global Commitment added mandatory virgin plastic reduction targets in 2021, with all 65 brand and retailer signatories currently setting targets
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The new commitments will further cement and accelerate the downward trend in the use of virgin plastics
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If the new commitments are fulfilled, the absolute use of virgin plastic will be nearly 20% lower by 2025 than in 2018
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It is estimated that the new target and existing commitments, if achieved, will reduce the production of virgin plastic by 8 million tons per year by 2025, which is equivalent to 40 million barrels of oil from being extracted
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Reducing the use of virgin plastic is a welcome trend, but brands and retailers are focusing on gradually replacing virgin plastic with recycled plastic in their current and future plans
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However, this is only part of the solution and does not address the total amount of plastic packaging put on the market
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Currently, efforts to phase out single-use packaging remain insufficient, with less than 2% of signatories' plastic packaging reusable, and more than half of signatories' plastic packaging reusable at zero
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New industry commitment and action plan will bring tangible progress to plastic recycling

All consumer packaged goods, retail and packaging manufacturers that have signed the Global Commitment have committed to making all of their plastic packaging 100% reusable, recyclable or compostable by 2025
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All CPG and retail companies that have signed up to the Global Commitment have also committed to an average of 25% recycled content in their plastic packaging by 2025, about 10 times the current global average valuation
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There are also companies setting higher targets for the percentage of recycled materials, among them Werner & Mertz, POSITIV.
A and IWC Schaffhausen set the target at 100%; Bio-D at 75%; Diageo and L'Occitane en provence at 40%; L'Oreal, M&S, Accor and Sealed Air are also targeting 30%
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As the first resin producers to sign the Global Commitment, Borealis and Indorama pledged to transform the current business model based on energy extraction and virgin materials to one based on material recycling by setting specific targets for the use of recycled materials.
business model
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Consumer packaged goods, retail and packaging manufacturers will need to generate a total of 5.
4 million tonnes of recycled plastic to meet their 2025 targets – the biggest commitment to date to use recycled plastic for plastic packaging
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Since the launch of the Global Commitment in 2018, the use of post-consumer recycled plastics by pledgers has increased by 60%
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In order to accelerate the process of decoupling plastic use and fossil raw materials, the global commitment to brand owners and retailers in 2021 has added a new target for virgin plastic reduction.
If the new commitment is realized, the absolute use of virgin plastic by 2025 will be higher than 2018.
dropped nearly 20% year over year
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Dame Ellen MacArthur, founder and chair of the Council of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, said: "Recycling alone will not solve the problem of plastic pollution, and phasing out single-use packaging is an important part of the solution
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But our The report shows that signatories are investing very little in this area, which is shocking
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We need to focus more urgently on upstream innovation and rethink how products are delivered with unpackaged or reusable packaging
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This is not only possible from the start of design Just avoiding waste also means we can design to avoid carbon emissions from the start, while creating new business opportunities
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It is estimated that converting just 20% of plastic packaging from single-use to reusable means that About $10 billion in business opportunity
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Voluntary initiatives such as the Global Commitment have begun to bring about change, but a large number of companies and countries have realized that voluntary initiatives alone are not enough to tackle plastic pollution
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Signatories to the Global Commitment cover only 20% of the world's plastic packaging
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We need a coordinated global response so that industry and all government departments can act faster and at scale
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There are growing calls for a global agreement on plastic pollution
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More than 80 leading companies and 119 governments are calling for a global agreement on tackling plastic pollution, and more than 2 million people have signed a public petition to show their support
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The Second Agenda of the Fifth United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA 5.
2) in February 2022 will be a critical moment, when governments will negotiate next steps, including whether to start intergovernmental negotiations on a global agreement
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Inger Andersen, Executive Director of the UN Environment Programme, said: "The Global Commitment shows us that concerted voluntary action by players along the entire value chain, including governments, has begun to reverse the global fight against plastic pollution.

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All signatories report their progress in a transparent manner and on agreed metrics, which is commendable and learned
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The front-runners of these actions are also proving that we can decouple the many benefits of plastic from the use of virgin plastic, which Groundbreaking action can be promoted and promoted through a comprehensive, inclusive global approach
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"