Designing for circularity is key to achieving a New Plastics Economy

More than 20 times more plastic is produced today than in 1964, an enormous amount that is expected to double in size in the next 20 years – and almost quadruple in size by 2050. These were the findings of the 2016 Rethinking the Future of Plastics report presented by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation at Davos last year, a report which famously went on to state that “without significant action, there may be more plastic than fish in the ocean, by weight, by 2050”.

The report has galvanized stakeholders across the industry into action. The first step was an action plan, which was launched in May 2016 as a direct result of Project MainStream, a multi-industry, CEO-led collaboration led by the World Economic Forum and the Ellen MacArthur Foundation. As waste threatens the global ecosystem, especially in oceans, some forty of the world's biggest companies have joined hands to come up with cleaner ways to make and consume plastic.

"The 'New Plastics Economy' initiative has attracted widespread support, and across the industry we are seeing strong initial momentum and alignment on the direction to take," said Ellen MacArthur, founder of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation. Core Partners in the initiative include Amcor, The Coca-Cola Company, Danone, MARS, Novamont, Unilever, and Veolia. Wendy Schmidt, through The Eric and Wendy Schmidt Fund for Strategic Innovation, is the Lead Philanthropic Partner of the New Plastics Economy initiative, and Players of People’s Postcode Lottery (GB), the MAVA Foundation and the Oak Foundation are Philanthropic Funders.

The latest report– again, launched at Davos - entitled The New Plastics Economy: Catalysing action, from the World Economic Forum and the Ellen MacArthur Foundation with analytical support from SYSTEMIQ, provides a clear transition strategy for the global plastics industry to design better packaging, increase recycling rates, and introduce new models for making better use of packaging. It finds that 20% of plastic packaging could be profitably re-used, for example by replacing single-use plastic bags with re-usable alternatives, or by designing innovative packaging models based on product refills. A further 50% of plastic packaging could be profitably recycled if improvements are made to packaging design and systems for managing it after use.

“Minor changes in material, format and treatment can – in conjunction – make the economics of recycling viable and take us into a positive spiral of higher yields, lower costs and better design. The result will be plastic that remains a valuable material before and after use,” said Prof. Dr. Martin R. Stuchtey, Professor for Resource Strategy and Management at Innsbruck University and co-founder of SYSTEMIQ.

Without fundamental redesign and innovation, the remaining 30% of plastic packaging (by weight) will never be recycled and will continue to destine the equivalent of 10 billion garbage bags per year to landfill or incineration. Innovation in packaging design, recyclable and compostable materials, and reprocessing technologies are likely all required to move this challenging segment forward.

The focus of the New Plastics Economy over the next year will be on bringing about wide scale innovation. The initiative will launch two global innovation challenges to kick-start the redesign of materials and packaging formats, and begin building a set of global common standards (a ‘Global Plastics Protocol’) for packaging design, concentrating initially on the most impactful changes. It will also improve recycling systems by delivering collaborative projects between participant companies and cities. To support the shift to “circular” design thinking and systems perspectives and to inspire innovators, entrepreneurs and designers, the Ellen MacArthur Foundation and IDEO are launching a new, publicly available ‘circular design guide’ this week at Davos.

https://www.ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/news