A group of 12 new companies from across the plastics value chain have joined Alliance to End Plastic Waste (AEPW), an organisation established to eliminate plastic waste in the environment.
Image: New companies have joined Alliance to End Plastic Waste. Photo: courtesy of Gerald Simon from Pixabay.
The 12 new members expand the organisation’s global footprint, as well as the involvement of companies across the plastics value chain seeking to develop and provide solutions for the elimination of plastic waste in the environment.
Companies joined in the organisation comprise of major companies from the packaging, collection, sorting and recycling, food and beverage, and chemical and plastics industries.
Equate Petrochemical Company, Gemini Corporation, Grupo Phoenix, Mondi, Novolex, PepsiCo, Sealed Air Corporation, Sinopec, SKC, Storopack, TOMRA, and Westlake Chemical are the latest companies joining the alliance.
AEPW, which was launched in January this year, now comprises 39 companies across the globe involved in making, using, selling, processing, collecting and recycling plastics.
The alliance will engage in the development and scaling of solutions to minimise and manage plastic waste, as well as boost solutions for used plastics to support the circular economy.
Member companies include chemical and plastic manufacturers, consumer goods companies, retailers, converters, and waste management firms. They have committed more than $1bn (£801m), intending to invest $1.5bn (£1.2bn) over the next five years to help end plastic waste in the environment.
The AEPW members have developed a global vision, as well as a comprehensive and integrated strategy focusing on infrastructure development for the collection and management of waste and increasing recycling in developing countries.
The members will also focus on innovation to advance and scale new technologies to minimise waste, make recycling and recovering plastics easier, as well as educating and engaging governments at all levels, businesses, and communities to mobilise action.
AEPW chairman and Procter & Gamble president, CEO and board chairman David Taylor said: “As leaders of companies that represent the full-spectrum of the plastics value chain, we are acutely aware that plastic waste in our environment is a serious and growing problem, especially in our oceans.
“This complex, global challenge requires a comprehensive approach across the plastics life-cycle, and we are committed to bringing forth sustainable solutions.”