Zero Waste Europe to Lead Break Free from Plastics, with VIDEO : 90 NGOs Launch Plastic Waste Reduction & Marine Pollution Initiative

A global vision for a future free of pollution from waste plastic has been released today by a network of 90 NGOs, including Zero Waste Europe (ZWE).

In a document the organisations participating in the Break Free from Plastics campaign lay out 10 principles, with the ultimate goal being ‘a future free from plastic pollution’.

ZWE noted a recent report in which scientists predict that without urgent action there will be more plastic than fish in the ocean by 2050, threatening marine biodiversity and posing a risk to human health. (See WMW Story)

However, despite the danger that plastic pollution poses to our planet and to human well-being, the organisations said that governments and industry have so far failed to face up to the systemic change required to solve the issue.

According to ZWE at the European level, the development of the Circular Economy Package and the EU Strategy on Plastics present a major opportunity to fundamentally tackle the use of plastic and prevent the creation of plastic waste. However, it added that this cannot be done without policy makers addressing the full life-cycle of plastics from oil extraction and design, to end-of-life.

“This is the first time that groups from all around the world have come together to find a common solution to the problem of plastic pollution,” commented Delphine Lévi Alvarès, Zero Waste Europe policy officer and coordinator of the European plastics alignment process.

“It is the beginning of a movement which will lead to governments, cities and companies taking major action to tackle this ever-growing problem,” she continued.

The NGOs called on the European Commission and Member States to strive for ambitious policy changes to lead the way to a future free from plastic pollution.

A video outlining the vision statement can be viewed below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eICvR2CdDyc]

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