Recognising the currently unsustainable reliance on the use of virgin plastics with the North American market, the US Plastics Pact has released a revamped strategic plan to help businesses change the way they design, use, and reuse plastics in their packaging.
Roadmap 2.0 is an actionable plan designed to transform the use of plastics, focusing on the practical steps to create a circular system in which packaging is reused, recycled, composted, and kept within the economy rather than becoming waste.
The plan builds on the lessons learned from the US Plastic Pact’s initial Roadmap to 2025 with updated targets to address public plastic waste and drive systemic change across the plastics value chain.
Over the past four years, the US Plastics Pact has made progress. Through the creation of a Problematic & Unnecessary Materials List, the Pact has facilitated a reduction in problematic or unnecessary plastics use from 14% to 8%. It has also driven an increase in reusable, recyclable, or compostable plastic packaging from 37% to 47.7% and increased post-consumer recycled or responsibly-sourced biobased content in packaging from 7% to 9.4%.
The Pact has also introduced its PCR Procurement Toolkit, PCR Certification Principles, and the Design for Circularity Playbooks, to be published this summer.
Building on these advances, Roadmap 2.0 will now make reuse its primary target in its mission to significantly reduce single-use plastics. The Pact also aims to see all items on its expanded Problematic & Unnecessary Materials List eliminated and all virgin plastic reduced 30% by 2030.
The Plan also aims to recycle 50% of plastic packaging and establish the necessary infrastructure to achieve this at scale, as well as address the social impacts and disparities related to plastic production and use.
Emily Tipaldo, executive director of the US Plastics Pact, said: “The current reliance on virgin plastics is unsustainable. Roadmap 2.0 aims to make a tangible difference by changing how we design, use, and reuse plastics. The focus is on practical, achievable steps companies can take to contribute to a circular economy.
“Roadmap 2.0 is not just a continuation, it’s an evolution. Our initial targets were intentionally ambitious to spark rapid change. With roadmap 2.0, we’re taking what we have learned and succeeded with to the next level, focusing on innovative solutions and addressing broader impacts.
“We are committed to working collaboratively with our Activators and stakeholders to make these targets a reality.”
The US Plastics Pact will continue to work as part of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s Plastics Pact Network. The consortium operates in partnership with The Recycling Partnership and World Wildlife Fund to bring businesses, not-for-profits, research institutions, and government agencies to rethink the design, use, and reuse of plastics and create a path forward to a circular economy for plastics in the US.
