The report, The New Plastics Economy: Catalysing action, provides a clear action plan, endorsed by over 40 industry leaders, for the global plastics industry to design better packaging, increase recycling rates, and introduce new models for making better use of packaging.
Launched at the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting in Davos in January 2017, this new research sets out three strategies which will lead to the rate of reuse and recycling of 70% of plastic packaging increasing from today's recycling rate of just 14%:
- Fundamental redesign and innovation is required for small format plastic packaging (sachets, tear-offs, lids, sweet wrappers etc.) that represent 30% of the market by weight and that often escape collection systems, ending up in the environment
- Reuse could be economically attractive for at least 20% of plastic packaging, for example by replacing single-use plastic bags with re-usable alternatives
- Recycling represents an important economic opportunity for 50% of plastic packaging if improvements are made both to the design of plastic packaging and to the systems for managing it after use.