The Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s Plastics Initiative is joining forces with the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) Global Plastic Action Partnership (GPAP), and international climate action NGO WRAP, to ensure more efficient knowledge sharing across their combined network.
The three organisations have been individually running national level initiatives to tackle plastic pollution since 2018, which collectively span more than 20 countries.
Now, to help accelerate their shared vision for a circular economy for plastics, the organisations are looking to collaborate more closely, by sharing learnings and best practices across their entire network on a regular basis.
They say this pre-competitive mindset will allow those coordinating action on the ground to have access to best practices from different initiatives across the world.
It will also help nations prepare the groundwork for the seismic shift in the way plastic is produced and used, which is expected to occur with the ratification of the UN treaty designed to end plastic pollution by mid-2025.
“These three organisations are leading global efforts to create plastics systems that work and which eliminate plastics pollution,” said Andrew Morlet, CEO of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation.
“As policymakers work towards designing a global treaty to bring plastics into the circular economy, collaboration of like-minded stakeholders is more important than ever.
“The creation of this new platform allows further exchange of best practices at a local level and the demonstration of real change on the ground, which can be critical to support an ambitious treaty development.”
Negotiations for the Global Plastics Treaty started last November, and are expected to create unprecedented pressure on country level public and private stakeholders to assess their plastic use, and design pathways for addressing pollution.
There are currently 13 Plastics Pacts around the world – ANZPAC (Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands), Canada, Chile, Europe, France, India, Kenya, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, South Africa, the UK and the US. A new Pact is also currently in development in Colombia.
In addition, there are National Plastic Action Partnerships – developed by the WEF under the GPAP project – in Indonesia, Vietnam, Pakistan, India, Nigeria, Ghana, Ecuador, South Africa and Mexico.
Each of the initiatives convenes key stakeholders across sectors to implement solutions towards circular economy plastics, tailored to their specific geography. Stakeholders include businesses, government institutions, civil society, NGOs and citizens.
Specific actions that national initiatives have been working on include private sector action to meet reduction, reuse and recyclability targets, and for national baseline assessment and scenario modelling tools, as well as support for the development of national action plans and financing roadmaps.
