Given the failures to reduce 5.7 million tons of waste plastics What Mexico produces per yearenvironmental organizations seek to coordinate companies through a pact to eradicate once and for all single-use plastics that they end up floating in the oceans or in the food we consume.
Its about Mexico Plastics Pact (PPMX) which was presented last week, and whose promoters, the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and Worldwide Responsible Accredited Production (WRAP)seek to get companies to join a collective effort to reduce and eliminate plastic pollution.
The Pact has four clear goals: identify problematic and avoidable plastic productsas well as the strategies to reduce or eliminate them from the market; achieve high rates of plastic packaging that is 100 percent reusable and compostable; ensure that plastics are effectively reused or composted; and increase the percentage of recycled material in plastic packaging.
In interview with The Sun of Mexico, Ninel Escobar, Director of Climate Change at WWFdefined the Plastics Pact as “a formal mechanism to advance solutions that require collective action by all companies.”
The call to join the Pact is urgent, since Ninel Escobar warned that Mexico is late to reduce the impact of plastics on the environment, well Our country ranks 7th among the 12 countries that are responsible for 52 percent of plastic waste poorly managed in the world.
Companies must understand that the fight against plastic pollution goes beyond them and requires a systemic change in the value chain and in the design of materials.
-Ninel Escobar. WWF
Just In the Mexican Republic, between 38 and 58 percent of plastic waste is poorly managed and They end up in places like beacheswhere WWF estimates that between 60 and up to 90 percent of the waste found on the coast is plastic.
“We are late in the sense that We have little information in Mexico about plastic pollution, but we know that between 38 and 58 percent of plastic waste is poorly managed and they have a high potential for leaks into the environment, this is a lot, it is a very high percentage and that means that there are many opportunities to do things better,” he said.
He Damage to the environment caused by plastic pollution also has impacts on health. All over the world, WWF estimates the health cost of plastics at $300 billionfor which Ninel Escobar urged action since the harmful effects on health due to plastic pollution are heading to be a health problem in the short term.
“Today we have in Mexico impacts on health and the environment related with plastics that are going to be very difficult to address and very costly for the public treasury and the institutions are not considering that,” he said.
To achieve the goals of the Pact, Ninel Escobar indicated that heCompanies must understand that the fight against plastic pollution goes beyond the borders of their companies and that requires a systemic change in the value chain and in the design of materials.
Although users have a great responsibility to change their consumption habits to eliminate single-use plastics, according to WWF Each Mexican consumes 66 kilograms of plastic per year and generates 55 kilograms of plastic waste, It is the companies that have to take the biggest step so that a coordinated effort can be articulated to avoid plastic pollution.
Mexico ranks 7th among the 12 countries that are responsible for 52 percent of poorly managed plastic waste in the world
Carolina Fernández, manager of International Alliances at WRAP, indicated in an interview with The Sun of Mexico that The success of the Pact will depend on the more companies that join the project.
“The private businesses They are the driving force of this initiative, since they are the ones that They have to adopt the goals and implement the actions. So, the more companies we have and the more (recalled) plastic coverage there is in the market, the more success we are going to have because we are going to be able to influence that plastic value chain,” he said.
He indicated that In Mexico there is no collaborative platform to implement solutions against plastics, Therefore, the Pact seeks to remedy that deficiency.
“We have to accelerate action, which is what is coming the Pact to Mexico. If we are aware that there are already initiatives in countless places, the public sector, the private sector, There are NGOs also with many very good initiatives but what Mexico lacks, what does not exist in Mexico, is a collaborative platform for action“, said.
Ninel Escobar highlighted that The Plastics Pact in the United Kingdom has been very successful, Proof of this is that it managed to get milk companies to adopt a single packaging model to facilitate recycling, something that the Plastics Pact also seeks in Mexico.
“What he did Plastics Pact was to put on the table the issue that Having different packaging greatly reduced recyclability rates and all these companies managed to agree to design a single type of packaging. and that involved imarketing innovationbecause companies want to differentiate themselves, they do not want to be equal, so it involved reaching an agreement and prioritizing recyclability over other types of interests and innovating in other types of interests, those spaces are what the Pact provides to reach an agreement,” said.
Companies that wish to join the Pact may do so by email pactoflosplasticos@wwfmex.org
Part of reaching an agreement, said Carolina Fernández, is have a single legislation regarding single-use plastics in Mexico. He explained that in the country there are 29 states have legislated this issue, however, each regulation is different and does not provide companies with certainty about which plastics are prohibited and which ones are allowed.
“There was a lot of conversation about this problem, of misalignment between the states. We have also spoken with the private sectorwhat this means for them is uncertainty, of not being able to implement, then, having these private sector actors providing what the challenges are, the academy providing evidence of all their knowledge, us bringing the information and international experience of what has worked and what didn’t, the Government also for talk about your perspectivethen, it is an exchange of all the actors to reach a common goal“, said.
The members and collaborators of the Covenant of Plastics will jointly develop a roadmap containing the vision, goals, milestones, time and responsibilities with the purpose of achieve the objectives and generate key beneficial results and products for the circularity of plastic in Mexico.
He PPMX will report annually, in aggregate, the progress of its members in relation to the goals and the agreed roadmap, following international standards and good practices.
The Companies that wish to join the Pact may do so by email: pactoflosplasticos@wwfmex.orgthey must sign the collaboration agreement which establishes the rights and obligations of the members of the pact, contribute with the recovery fee depending on the size of the company and actively collaborate in the development of the Pact of the Plastics and work groups.
The Plastics Pact is an initiative that It is present in countries such as Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands, the United States, Canada, Chile, Colombia, the United Kingdom, Malaysia, Kenya and South Africa.Besides that There is already a Plastics Pact of European countries.