FUNDING INFRASTRUCTURE TO PREVENT POLLUTION Unlocking funding for waste management and circularity infrastructure will require collaboration and a sound policy and regulatory ecosystem A circular economy for plastics is a key part of the solution to end plastic pollution. The circularity of plastics, however, goes beyond recycling. It requires investment and adequate financing for innovation,… Read more

MICROPLASTICS: COMMON QUESTIONS & RESEARCH UNDERWAY A global agreement on plastics should help enable a circular economy, which can minimize the flow of plastic waste – including microplastics – into our environment. What are microplastics? Microplastics are plastic particles, generally considered a subset of plastic debris, characterized by size: from 5 millimeters (mm) down to… Read more

What We’re For: The best solution to address pollution of any solid waste is to prevent it from entering the environment in the first place through adequate waste management systems. In the absence of this, the global plastics industry continues to support and participate in plastic pollution cleanup projects. We’ve found these activities are most… Read more

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DESIGNING FOR CIRCULARITY A global agreement can foster the use of plastic products and packaging that are designed to be reused and remade into new products. This helps eliminate plastic waste and conserves our natural resources. Circularity = using plastics (or any resource) more efficiently by In other words, we keep the molecules in play… Read more

ADDITIVES IN PLASTICS & A CIRCULAR ECONOMY A well-crafted global agreement would accelerate a circular economy for plastics – and support the safe, transparent use of chemical additives. The role additives play in plastics Plastic makers typically convert raw materials (monomers) into polymers, which are chains of molecules, by applying heat and pressure in the… Read more

CHEMICAL RECYCLINGTECHNOLOGIES FOR PLASTICS Chemical recycling technologies have the potential to dramatically increase the types and amount of plastics that can be recycled. Mechanical and Chemical Recycling Today, most plastics recycling is done mechanically. Mechanical re-processors use heat and pressure to return used plastics to their solid form (typically small pellets). This process involves a… Read more

Creating a Circular Economy for Plastics Helps Achieve Sustainable Development Goals Creating a circular economy for plastics — in which plastics are sustainably produced, designed, used, reused and recycled — will help achieve important sustainable development goals (SDGs). Plastics (and other materials) should be kept in use for as long as feasible and then recycled… Read more