American Chemistry Council Endorses Solutions to Tackle Marine Litter

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The American Chemistry Council (ACC) has issued a statement on the recently concluded United Nations (UN) Ocean Conference which urged heads of states and governments to work on a committed action plan to prevent marine litter. While congratulating the UN for its resolve to prioritize this important issue, Steve Russel, vice president of plastics at ACC noted that plastic makers are already committed to eliminate marine litter by partnering with more than 260 projects world-wide.

According to ACC, the first priority should be given for efforts to prevent land-based trash from reaching our oceans. It called for special focus on those parts of the world where such systems are not in place. Urgent efforts to reduce waste and implementation of improved collection and sortation techniques at recovery and recycling facilities would result in less waste from escaping the system, ACC noted. As per studies, nearly 513 million tons of plastic end up in oceans every year. 20 countries account for almost 80% of the marine plastic litter. The top five polluters are China, Indonesia, Philippines, Vietnam and Sri Lanka, the report states.

ACC reminded that plastics makers remain committed to delivering solutions. Plastics makers are part of nearly 260 projects in various phases of implementation across the world, working to combat marine litter. ACC noted in the statement that plastics should not be littered. Instead, they must be responsibly used, reused, recycled and recovered.

Plastics end up as debris in marine environment as a result of poor or insufficient waste management systems. The issue cannot be resolved by the work of any single entity. Organizations must collaborate with governments, NGOs, researchers and other stakeholders to prevent marine litter, ACC noted. Efforts must be undertaken to spread necessary knowledge regarding effective solid waste management systems and practices, particularly in communities and countries that border our oceans.

The combined efforts towards research and prevention of marine litter around the world under “Declaration of the Global Plastics Industry for Solutions on Marine Litter” have recorded significant progress every year since its launch in 2011. The declaration, already supported by 70 plastics associations spread across 35 countries, focuses on education, research, public policies, best practices, plastics recycling and recovery. Plastics makers also work with regional leaders to ensure more investments into modern waste management systems.

According to ACC, plastics find innumerable use amongst people around the world. The lightweight and durability features make them preferred choice of many communities. However, plastics become a nuisance when managed improperly. Meaningful solution to tap plastic’s full sustainability benefits is the need of the hour. Recommendations to reduce or ban the use of plastics will not help to solve the bigger problem, ACC noted.

The American Chemistry Council (ACC) represents leading U.S. chemical manufacturers and companies engaged in the business of chemistry.