Biggest polluters to the UN: A pact against plastic is urgent

Environmental • You must read... • News • International organizations • CSR19 January 2022by Margarita Romero Written by Margarita Romero

Learn about the call for a pact against plastic called by companies to reduce contamination by this waste. Find out!

According to the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), plastic represents 85% of the waste that reaches the oceans, causing serious effects on the marine environment. In this context, it is urgent to implement a pact against plastic.

Recently, according to edie, more than 70 companies —some of them the largest plastic polluters in the world— have asked the UN for a pact that includes reducing plastic pollution, greater recycling and with a view to a circular economy.

Plastic: an urgent environmental problem

The environmental problems that the planet is experiencing are no secret to anyone, including pollution and global warming. However, sometimes there is a lack of a full understanding of the problem of waste, in this case of plastic.

Plastic is a polymer that is obtained from chemical reactions. It is a synthetic product with very different properties and uses ranging from automotive use to packaging such as plastic bags. And just as its uses are diverse, its polluting potential is also wide. UNEP warns:

This data allows us to observe the polluting scope of plastics. In addition, the report From Pollution to Solution: A Global Assessment of Marine Litter and Plastic Pollution points out that plastic pollution is growing rapidly.

With this constant increase, it is important to understand that plastic garbage in the oceans brings about various problems that affect:

With this brief context, the importance of taking urgent measures and actions is observed, since plastic garbage damages the marine ecosystem, the planet and human health.

Pact vs. plastic: actions today

In March 2022, the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA) will take place, which will bring together representatives of the 193 Member States of the United Nations, companies, civil society and other interest groups to address the most pressing environmental challenges through agreements, pacts and other political tools.

So a large number of companies want to take advantage of this assembly to request a pact vs the plastic. So they have made a commercial statement to carry out a treaty that summones the UN on plastic pollution. In which they recognize:

Companies from different sectors such as: PepsiCo, Nivea, Beiersdorf, Essity, Cushelle, Schwarzkopf, Henkel, Zara, Inditex, Procter & Gamble (P&G), Starbucks, Marte, Mondelez Internacional, Grup H&M, Zalando, Pick n Pay, Werner & Mertz, and more.

Without a doubt, this call makes evident Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), but especially the commitment to the sustainable development of the planet. If you want to see the complete declaration and the signatories you can do it here.