As useful as plastic is, excessive use and ineffective waste management mean it has rapidly become one of the most widespread pollutants on our planet. It’s a truly global crisis, suffocating our rivers and oceans, contaminating the food we eat, the air we breathe and the water we drink, and exacerbating climate change.
No Plastic in Nature Newsletter
Environmental
- By 2050, based on current projections, production and incineration of plastics will account for 10-13% of the global annual carbon budget.
- 700 species – from tiny zooplankton, to fish, birds and the largest whales – are harmed by entanglement in or ingestion of plastic.
Social & Economic
- There is growing evidence of widespread human ingestion of plastic from contaminated food and water, particularly microplastics. Although toxicological risks are poorly understood, toxic chemicals may bio-accumulate within body tissue.
- An estimated $622 million is lost every year in the Asia-Pacific region alone due to waste and clean-up costs, affecting the livelihoods of communities reliant on tourism.
- reduce the amount of new plastic produced
- increase the reuse of plastic already in circulation
- eliminate leakage of plastic into nature
Our initiative is built on three core pillars:
- Global Governance
- Business Engagement
- Plastic Smart Cities
Newsletter
Stay informed about progress towards an effective global treaty on plastic pollution - sign up to our newsletter.“Realising our vision of no plastic in nature will take nothing short of a revolution. Addressing the plastic problem in our oceans and rivers is everyone’s responsibility. Governments, business and consumers all have a role to play.”
Cristianne Close
Markets Practice Leader
@WWFLeadMarkets
To accelerate progress toward a circular economy and stop plastic entering the natural world, WWF is leading global advocacy for a legally binding UN treaty on plastic pollution.
Many UN member states, alongside some of the world’s leading companies and millions of citizens, are calling for a global agreement that defines binding targets to guide national action plans. Such a treaty would not only increase government and business accountability; it also makes business sense. It could help harmonize policy efforts, enhance investment planning, stimulate innovation and coordinate infrastructure development.
Stop Polluting Our Oceans
We’re calling on governments to introduce a global legally-binding UN agreement to stop plastics polluting our oceans.
You can help by signing our petition.
Criteria for a Treaty
Find out more about what would make for an effective global treaty on plastic pollution.
Engaging with these businesses through platforms such as ReSource: Plastic, the Plastic Action (PACT) and the growing network of national Plastics Pacts around the world, we are transforming the plastic value chain. Our efforts focus on reducing unnecessary use; redesigning packaging; increasing reuse and recycling; and using sustainable alternative materials.
Stemming the flow of plastic into nature requires significant investments in a circular plastics economy. We are working with many governments and businesses on extended producer responsibility programs that hold manufacturers financially accountable for managing their plastic products and packaging’s end-of-life impacts.
Our report, No Plastic in Nature: A Practical Guide for Business Engagement, offers practical guidance for companies looking to drive systemic change through strategic collaboration, design and innovation.
And companies can help us all make better choices.
WWF’s Plastic Smart Cities programme is working with pilot cities in five countries – Philippines, China, Indonesia, Vietnam and Thailand – to improve policy and governance, facilitate industry roundtables, and support entrepreneurial solutions that reduce plastic waste and increase collection, separation and recycling.
WWF has also developed a global Plastic Smart Cities platform to share lessons and showcase the growing range of solutions for cities to address plastic pollution.
New Plastics Economy
Our partner, Ellen MacArthur Foundation, have developed a blueprint for change - the New Plastics Economy.
By uniting businesses, governments and other actors behind one common vision, this global initiative aims to rethink and redesign the future of plastics and build a plastics system that works