Why we can’t recycle our way out of the plastic crisis
Experts from the United Nations, the Ellen MacArthur Foundation and Coca-Cola Europe discuss the challenges of solving our plastics crisis – and how finance plays a key role in solving it.
20/08/2023
Plastic pollution is one of the biggest challenges for the circular economy to tackle. If we don’t act now, by 2050 the oceans will have more plastic in them than fish.
The United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative aims to use financial solutions to eliminate plastic pollution from the planet. Intesa Sanpaolo is a member of the UN initiative. Peggy Lefort, pollution and circular economy lead at the United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative, says: “To reduce plastic pollution for short-use plastics by 2040 will require whole-systems change.
"It will require us to change the way we produce and use plastics away from our current linear model towards a circular model, and this will require a massive re-directing of financial force. The finance sector has a role to play to support their clients in transitioning to a circular plastics economy."
Peggy Lefort, pollution and circular economy lead at the United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative
Changing the current system is not only good for the planet – it will also create cost savings estimated at around $4.5tn by 2040.
“I am confident because science tells us it is possible,” says Peggy Lefort. Finance must work with manufacturing to encourage transformation in plastics use. That’s why Intesa Sanpaolo is the first strategic financial services partner of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation (EMF), a charity committed to making the Circular Economy a reality. This partnership has been in place since 2015.
Solving plastic pollution through rethinking systems is one of the EMF’s biggest priorities. “The problem is huge,” says Gilonne Traub, partnership manager at the Ellen MacArthur Foundation. “We just can’t ignore it.
"It’s not just about the Great Pacific garbage patch. I live in Europe, in England. When I walk down the beach with my children, I see plastic pieces there."
Gilonne Traub, partnership manager at the Ellen MacArthur Foundation
Currently, even though we’ve had recycling systems in place for around 40 years, only 14% of plastic packaging gets recycled and only 2% makes it back into the system for reuse.
Recycling is therefore not the single answer to the plastics pollution crisis. It’s vital that manufacturers who use plastic also join the conversation. Coca-Cola Europe, for instance, is another strategic partner to the Ellen MacArthur Foundation.
"We have got many challenges ahead of us because we have to provide a holistic solution on a market-by-market basis. Coca-Cola operates in more than 200 countries, and in those markets every geography has a unique situation – different governments, different legislative environments and different consumer behaviours. Being a partner to the Ellen MacArthur Foundation is an absolutely key for us. Through the close collaboration we are capable of addressing these complex challenges."
Ana Gascón, director of the World Without Waste initiative at Coca-Cola Europe.
