The Plastics 2020 Challenge is a campaign to reduce the quantity of

plastic waste Plastic pollution is the accumulation of plastic objects and particles (e.g. plastic bottles, bags and microbeads) in the Earth's environment that adversely affects humans, wildlife and their habitat. Plastics that act as pollutants are catego ...

sent to

landfill A landfill site, also known as a tip, dump, rubbish dump, garbage dump, or dumping ground, is a site for the disposal of waste materials. Landfill is the oldest and most common form of waste disposal, although the systematic burial of the waste ...

. In 2009, the

plastics industry The plastics industry manufactures polymer materials—commonly called plastics—and offers services in plastics important to a range of industries, including packaging, building and construction, electronics, aerospace, and transportation. It is ...

, PlasticsEurope, the Packaging and Films Association (PAFA) and the

British Plastics Federation The British Plastics Federation (BPF) is the main trade body for the plastics industry in the UK. History It was incorporated on 21 December 1933; the first Chairman was Charles Waghorne of Insulators Limited. It is the longest-established plastics ...

(BPF), launched its Plastics 2020 Challenge campaign in the UK to challenge itself, consumers and government to step up

resource efficiency Resource efficiency is the maximising of the supply of money, materials, staff, and other assets that can be drawn on by a person or organization in order to function effectively, with minimum wasted (natural) resource expenses. It means using the ...

and stop sending plastic materials to landfill. The Plastics 2020 Challenge was named runner-up "Campaign of the Year" for 2009 by '' Packaging News''.

Pledges

The industry is pledging several commitments including to help double the recycling rate of

plastic packaging Plastic containers are containers made exclusively or partially of plastic. Plastic containers are ubiquitous either as single-use or reuseable/durable plastic cups, plastic bottles, plastic bags, foam food containers, Tupperware, plastic tub ...

in the UK by the year 2020 and the diversion of plastics from landfill.

Plastic recycling

Plastics are too valuable a resource to send to landfill at their end of life. Industry wants these materials back to recycle whenever possible. When plastics cannot be sustainably recycled such non-recyclable plastics provides a valuable

energy resource Energy development is the field of activities focused on obtaining sources of energy from natural resources. These activities include production of renewable, nuclear, and fossil fuel derived sources of energy, and for the recovery and reus ...

for

thermal process A thermal column (or thermal) is a rising mass of buoyant air, a convective current in the atmosphere, that transfers heat energy vertically. Thermals are created by the uneven heating of Earth's surface from solar radiation, and are an example ...

, contributing to energy security and displacing virgin

fossil fuels A fossil fuel is a hydrocarbon-containing material formed naturally in the Earth's crust from the remains of dead plants and animals that is extracted and burned as a fuel. The main fossil fuels are coal, oil, and natural gas. Fossil fuels ...

Call for action

The

cannot achieve this alone, and calls on policy makers and the value chain to work with them in achieving its goal, thereby increasing the UK's resource efficiency and creating new jobs in the Green sector.

References

External links

* {{official website, http://www.plasticseurope.org/plastics-sustainability-14017.aspx 2009 in the environment Recycling in the United Kingdom Plastic recycling

Pledges

Plastic recycling

Call for action

Sponsors

See also

References

External links