Alliance to End Plastic Waste

OVERVIEW

Plastic is life-changing resource, but the same qualities that make it useful----- alongside poor management----- have created a global waste challenge. Here is what you need to know.

Plastics boast a unique and useful set of properties. They are polymers, long chains of molecules made from repeating links called monomers, often produced from chemicals like petroleum. Its molecular structure can be engineered to present different characteristics—to be flexible or hard, transparent or opaque. They are durable, strong, lightweight, water resistant, and relatively easy and inexpensive to manufacture. Most modern plastics are made from fossil fuels like natural gas or petroleum; but as new technology emerges, plastics are also being produced from renewable materials like corn or cotton. There are thousands of patented plastics spanning countless sectors, all with unique attributes that make them fit for purpose.

Plastic in our daily lives

Plastic is virtually irreplaceable because it is cheap, strong, lightweight, and resistant to corrosion. The most common uses of plastic are in packaging and building components, such as piping. In the medical industry, plastic is often key to contamination and infection control. Syringes, pipettes and gloves used in healthcare and biomedical research cannot be reused.

Replacing plastic with other materials is neither simple nor straightforward, mainly due to the challenge of finding an alternative that combines all the most desirable plastic properties

Plastics are the cleanest, most efficient way to keep medical supplies sterile

A study conducted last year by the Nanyang Technological University in Singapore found that Reusable plastic bags are more eco-friendly than paper and cotton alternatives, but only in cities and countries with a well-structured waste management system that prevents leakage.

The Plastic waste problem is a Waste Management Problem

While plastic is durable, this also means plastic waste can be trapped in our environment for centuries, if not managed well. While plastics deteriorate into fragments easily through wear and tear, their polymer chains only break down into other smaller components at very high temperatures, such as during some chemical recycling processes. However, today only 15% of plastic waste is recycled.

Transitioning to a more sustainable model is not rocket science, if we can remember the 3 Rs: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle—in that specific order of priority!

1. Reducing: our overall consumption is about respecting our natural resources, only using what we need, and refusing unnecessary excess. Take the Japanese ‘Mottainai’ lifestyle approach—which teaches respect for the planet and its natural resources by reducing wasteful behaviour, using only what is needed.

2. Reuse: is key to increasing the lifespan of the things we use. This includes repairing or upcycling our items to give them a new lease on life.

3. Recycling: the waste we eventually generate is key to closing the loop in a circular economic model.

What do we do now?

Plastic recycling is a crucial step towards a circular economy, but achieving circularity calls for action at every point in the lifetime of a product: from design to waste management. At the Alliance, we focus on six action areas that advance our trajectory toward a circular economy and ending plastic waste in the environment. They are:

1. Front-end Design: Designing products that can last long and are easy to repair, and eventually can be recycled.

2. Access to Collection: Providing basic infrastructure enabling convenient and necessary recovery of waste, preventing leakage into the environment.

3. Participation and Engagement:
Raising awareness and inspiring participation in sustainable practices and clean-up.

4. Sorting:
The first step of any recycling system is sorting waste according to type, wet or dry; recyclable or non-recyclable; plastic, paper, metal, or glass. Sorting like this can happen right inside your home, or at a formal waste management facility.

5. Processing:
Scaling solutions of new advanced recovery and recycling methods, including both mechanical and chemical recycling.

6. End Markets:
Growing market demand for recycled materials from all recycling methods.

We need to build and scale other solutions concurrently. All these efforts help divert plastic waste from the environment and move us toward a sustainable circular economy—unlocking the value of our waste. It’s an ambitious task, but with collective action it can certainly be achieved.