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Shift focus to keep plastics out of oceans
More than 250 organizations signed the Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s New Plastics Economy Global Commitment and United States-based Circulate Capital announced US$90 million in funding from multinational brands to combat ocean plastic.
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Plastic waste often ends up harming marine wildlife, large or small. (Shutterstock/File)
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t was no surprise that tackling marine litter took center stage at the recent Our Oceans Conference (OOC) in Bali. More than 250 organizations signed the Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s New Plastics Economy Global Commitment and United States-based Circulate Capital announced US$90 million in funding from multinational brands, which are all members of Food Industry Asia and three of them founding members of Packaging and Recycling Association for Indonesia Sustainable Environment (PRAISE), to combat ocean plastic.
Throughout 2018, the issue of plastic waste finding its way into the world’s oceans has led to public outcry and has resulted in policy interventions around the world. Currently, more than half of plastic leakage into the ocean occurs in Asia, driven by rising urbanization and inadequate collection facilities.
China, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam are responsible for more plastic finding its way into our oceans than the rest of the world combined. In the region, Indonesia is responsible for around 10 percent of the global plastics leakage, putting them behind China.
Today, the number one use for plastic is packaging. In the food and beverage industry, plastic packaging has helped to protect, store and preserve food, improving access to a wide variety of products and regions including secondary cities, rural areas and coastal settlements.
