More than one year after leading global plastics associations got together to sign the “Global Declaration of the Plastics Associations for Solutions on Marine Litter" (see Plasteurope.com of 25.11.2011), progress continues to be made. At a recent meeting in Miami, Florida / USA, the signatories issued a progress report detailing developments to date, which comprise more than 140 initiatives either completed, underway or planned to prevent plastics in the oceans.

“The plastics industry is firmly committed to the principle that plastics do not belong in the world’s oceans and should not be littered – plastics should be responsibly used, reused, recycled and finally recovered for their energy value,” said PlasticsEurope (Brussels / Belgium; www.plasticseurope.org) executive director Wilfried Haensel, adding that the progress thus far constituted a significant improvement over the roughly 100 projects outlined in 2011 and “greatly exceeded” the industry’s expectations. Steve Russell, vice president Plastics at the American Chemistry Council (ACC, Washington DC / USA; www.americanchemistry.com), said the new progress reported reflected “the determination of our industry to shape solutions in partnership with others.”

The six areas of engagement identified by the declaration’s signatories are focusing on public-private partnerships to prevent marine litter, research, public policy, sharing best practices, plastics recycling and recovery as well as plastic pellet containment. At the Miami meeting, the signatories undertook to track and report on the progress of 100 specific actions aimed at meeting the declaration’s goals.

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The Declaration of the Global Plastics Associations for Solutions on Marine Litter Progress Report as a PDF document