GLOBAL SOUTH – Global packaging solutions provider Amcor has forged a partnership with Delterra, Mars and P&G to address plastic pollution and develop circular systems across the Global South.
As part of this strategic partnership, the companies will invest US$6m in innovative programs over the next five years to improve upstream and downstream solutions that are used in the circular plastics economy.
The partners will invest in programs across the value chain, including implementing Delterra’s digital tool ‘Plastic IQ’ across the world.
The strategic partnership will begin its focus in Argentina, Indonesia and Brazil, aiming to provide easy access to waste management and recycling systems to 10 million people.
The partners say they will explore new ways to drive true system change and to innovate beyond each organization’s field to positively impact the entire ecosystem.
The Companies recognize that plastic pollution is a symptom of underperforming or non-existent waste management and circularity solutions.
Shannon Bouton, president and CEO at Delterra, said: “Solving plastic pollution – and indeed the broader waste crisis, requires a rethinking of the way we produce and manage waste.
“This includes a rapid expansion of waste collection and sortation and reliable recycling markets, alongside a deeper redesign of how we consume.”
Through the partnership, the companies will invest in programs along the full recycling value chain.
Regarding upstream recycling, the companies will stem plastic pollution at source by designing waste out of the system with the use of Delterra’s ‘Plastic IQ’, a digital tool that helps companies understand and improve their plastic footprint.
For downstream recycling, the companies will work on the supply and demand side “to capture recyclable and compostable materials and return them to productive use,” this will be enabled by Delterra’s ‘Rethinking Recycling’ program.
The partnership comes ahead of the UN negotiating committee’s second meeting regarding a Global Plastics Treaty.
As part of the agreement reached at UNEA, governments now meet every six months at Intergovernmental Negotiating Committees (INCs) to thrash out the details of the treaty by the end of next year.
The INC process aims to finalize the draft text of the treaty by the end of 2024, to be adopted in 2025. This highly ambitious timeline illustrates the global political will for systemic solutions to plastic pollution and urgent, coordinated action to accelerate the transition to a circular economy for plastics.
The INCs offer stakeholders the chance to put forward their views on what the treaty should say and how legally binding it should be.
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