EMF: reliance on recycled plastics 'alarming'
17/11/2021
Specifically, an updated report detailing progress made on the Global Commitment - a circularity initiative centred on plastics led by EMF in partnership with UNEP, which has the backing of over 500 organisations in total - in 2021 suggests that not only has the use of virgin plastic peaked for its signatories, but the same enterprises’ collective use of single-use plastics across the board is on track to plunge 20% by 2025 (compared to 2018 figures).
Strategically mapping out a reduction target became mandatory for all 63 brand and retailer signatories in 2021. Asos, H&M Group, Inditex, LPP, Stella McCartney and Superdry are all listed as signatories in the report’s apparel, footwear and accessories category.
Key to note, however, is that progress thus far has largely been dominated by a straight switch from virgin to recycled plastic, which is “one part of the solution, but does not address the total amount of plastic in the market”, the researchers found.
Further, “very little evidence of ambitious efforts” to phase out single-use plastic packaging, for example, was discovered. The report states that less than 2% of Global Commitment signatories’ plastic packaging can be reused. Strikingly, for more than half of those signed up, the percentage reported is zero.
On this, EMF founder, Dame Ellen MacArthur, said: “We won’t recycle our way out of plastic pollution. Eliminating single-use packaging is a vital part of the solution. Alarmingly, our report shows little investment in this. We need much more urgent focus on upstream innovation to rethink how to deliver products without packaging or by using reusable packaging.
“This doesn’t just allow us to design out waste, it also means we can design out carbon emissions while creating new opportunities for business. Shifting just 20% of plastic packaging from single-use to reuse is an opportunity estimated to be worth $10 billion.”
UNEP executive director, Inger Anderson, added: “The Global Commitment is showing us that concerted voluntary action by actors across the value chain can begin to shift the needle in the fight against plastic pollution. Frontrunners are also demonstrating that we can decouple the benefits we derive from plastic from the consumption of virgin plastic, and this is ground-breaking.
“But the action from these frontrunners can be boosted by a comprehensive, inclusive and global approach.”
Image: Karina Tess via Unsplash.
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