With just about four years now under its belt, an influential nonprofit group aimed at increasing plastics recycling while decreasing overall use is targeting new goals.
The U.S. Plastics Pact, an offshoot of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, launched in 2020 and developed an initial approach to aimed at creating change called Roadmap to 2025.
Now, with 2025 fast approaching, the group is extending its vision another five years.
Dubbed Roadmap 2.0 with targets for 2030, the U.S. Plastics Pact now seeks to reduce the use of virgin plastic by 30 percent by 2030.
The U.S. Plastics Pact aims to create change by inviting companies to join and then report on their efforts. Member companies, called actuators, currently represent about a third of all plastics packaging sold in the United States.
"We've learned a lot over the last four years. For example, when we started as the U.S. Plastics Pact in late 2020, there was a lot we didn't know. Something like the pact and its annual reporting requirement had never been done before," said Emily Tipaldo, executive director of the U.S. pact.
The last four years, she said, have given her group a "better sense of where the real pain points are and where we can intervene" to help meet the targets the group has set.
"Where I believe that you see that play out in Roadmap 2.0 is you can see the granularity or the evolution" of the targets. "We've been able to learn a lot."
The newest set of targets for 2030 include:
• Eliminate all items on the Problematic and Unnecessary Materials List and reduce use of virgin plastic by 30 percent by 2030. The previous target did not have a virgin plastic use decrease amount.
• Design and manufacture 100 percent of plastic packaging to be reusable, recyclable or compostable. That's similar language as the original road map with a 2025 target.
• Effectively recycle 50 percent of plastic packaging and establish the necessary framework to recycle or compost packaging at scale. The initial roadmap's target was to "undertake ambitious actions to effectively recycle or compost 50 percent of plastic packaging by 2025."
• Achieve an average of 30 percent of postconsumer recycled content or responsibly sourced bio-based content across all plastic packaging. The initial 2025 target was to "achieve an average of 30 percent recycled content or responsibly sourced, bio-based content by 2025."
• Identify viable reusable packaging systems and increase their implementation and scale by 2030, as part of reducing the use of virgin plastics. This target is new.
The new road map, Tipaldo said, represents an "evolutionary moment in our mission."
Tipaldo readily admits the pact has not met the initial targets, which were aggressive by design.
"We knew it was incredibly ambitious to begin with. To make any progress, you have to put a marker out there somewhere," she said.
"So I believe in that respect, the targets and the date setting has served its purpose well," Tipaldo said. "Were they all attainable on a 2025 timeline? Probably not."
But, she added, the targets have been successful in creating momentum and movement for change. Tipaldo also disagreed with a characterization the new targets look a lot like the previous ones, but with just a new date.
"I think that's a rudimentary assessment of what's going on. It's more nuanced," she said, pointing to new details being added and the creation of language regarding reusable packaging systems.
"The overall Roadmap 2.0 itself is much more specific than the first one was, reflecting the level of insight and knowledge we have," she said.
The U.S. Plastics Pact is one of several 11 such national groups and one regional group covering Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Island Nations working to create a circular economy for plastics. The pacts are associated with the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, which is known for its work to create a more circular economy for plastics.
The U.S. pact now has 130 participants, including retailers, consumer brands, packaging companies, governmental agencies and non-profits. The group said it has seen "significant progress in plastics circularity" among its members since creation. That includes a decrease in problematic or unnecessary plastics from 14 to 8 percent. There also has been an increase in post-consumer or responsibly sourced bio-based content in packaging from 7 to 9.4 percent.
The amount of reusable, recyclable or compostable plastic used in packaging has increased from 37 to 47.7 percent among members.