Austin Enters U.S. Plastics Pact

AUSTIN, TX – Austin Resource Recovery, a department of the City of Austin, announced Wednesday it has joined The U.S. Plastics Pact aimed at rethinking use of the synthetic material.

A collaboration led by The Recycling Partnership and World Wildlife Fund, the pact was launched on Tuesday as part of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation's global Plastics Pact network. The U.S. Plastics Pact is an ambitious initiative to unify diverse public-private stakeholders across the plastics value chain to rethink the way people design, use and reuse plastics aimed at creating a path toward a circular economy for plastic in the U.S.

"Plastic pollution is a global crisis that needs local solutions, and the United States is one of biggest opportunities where regional interventions can result in transformative change around the world," said Erin Simon, head of Plastic Waste and Business at World Wildlife Fund. "To do this, WWF sees the U.S. Plastics Pact as the linchpin for uniting the critical stakeholders—industry leaders, waste management systems and policymakers—under a common vision and action plan for meaningful, measurable impact."

Austin Resource Recovery will also join the U.S. Plastics Pact inaugural Advisory Council, along with 10-15 representatives from other sectors, to provide counsel and advice to the organization's steering committee.

"Austin Resource Recovery is proud to join the U.S. Plastics Pact to help reduce plastic waste on a national scale," Austin Resource Recovery Director, Ken Snipes said in a prepared statement. "By joining this effort, we can re-imagine what a future looks like with a thriving circular economy." Austin's Circular Economy Program provides resources for businesses, nonprofits and entrepreneurs to attract, retain and grow circular ventures. "The City of Austin has a goal of reaching zero waste by 2040 and joining efforts like the U.S. Plastics Pact allows us to take one step closer towards that goal."

The U.S. Plastics Pact brings together organizations and business across the country including plastic packaging producers, brands, retailers, recyclers, waste management companies, policymakers, and other stakeholders, known as Activators, to work collectively toward scalable solutions tailored to the unique needs and challenges within the U.S landscape, through vital knowledge sharing and coordinated action.

These Activators agree to deliver these four targets collectively:

• Define a list of packaging to be designated as problematic or unnecessary by 2021 and take measures to eliminate them by 2025.
• By 2025, all plastic packaging is 100 percent reusable, recyclable, or compostable.
• By 2025, undertake ambitious actions to recycle or compost 50 percent of plastic packaging effectively.
• By 2025, the average recycled content or responsibly sourced bio-based content in plastic packaging will be 30 percent.

Officials said measurable results in each of the target areas and transparent reporting will be tracked through the World Wildlife Fund ReSource: Plastic Footprint Tracker, which provides a standard methodology to monitor companies' plastic footprints and publicly report on of their plastic waste commitments each year. The report will be made publicly available each year.

About Austin Resource Recovery

Austin Resource Recovery provides a wide range of services designed to transform waste into resources while keeping our community clean. Services include curbside collection of recycling, trash, yard trimmings and large brush and bulk items; street sweeping; dead animal collection; household hazardous waste disposal and recycling; and outreach and education. Austin Resource Recovery offers free, voluntary, and confidential consulting services to help Austin businesses reduce waste and comply with the City's recycling ordinances. In December 2011, the Austin City Council approved the Austin Resource Recovery Master Plan, which is the City's road map to Zero Waste. The City of Austin is committed to reducing the amount of waste sent to area landfills by 90 percent by 2040. Learn more www.AustinRecycles.com.

About The Ellen MacArthur Foundation

The Ellen MacArthur Foundation was launched in 2010 with the aim of accelerating the transition to the circular economy. Since its creation, the charity has emerged as a global thought leader, putting the circular economy on the agenda of decision-makers around the world. The charity's work focuses on seven key areas: insight and analysis; business; institutions, governments, and cities; systemic initiatives; circular design; learning; and communications.

About The New Plastics Economy and The Plastics Pact

Since 2016, the Ellen MacArthur Foundation's New Plastics Economy initiative has rallied businesses and governments behind a positive vision of a circular economy for plastic. Its 2016 and 2017 New Plastics Economy reports captured worldwide headlines, revealing the financial and environmental costs of waste plastic and pollution.

The Plastics Pact is a global network of initiatives that brings together all key stakeholders at the national or regional level behind a common vision with a concrete set of ambitious local targets. It builds a unique platform to exchange learnings and best practices across regions to accelerate the transition to a circular economy for plastic — a New Plastics Economy — in which it never becomes waste or pollution.