As a society we now consume more of everything. But with consumption comes waste and with waste comes responsibility.

We only have one world and it’s up to all of us to look after it.

The plastics industry is more than aware of its responsibilities in a developing world. That’s why we are doing everything we can to Reduce, Reuse, Recycle and Recover our products.

But we can’t do it on our own. We need everybody to help us.

That’s why we’ve created this site. It’s an open forum where anyone can submit their thoughts and ideas and suggest ways that we can make the world a better place.

Click on any of the live debates to join in or click on the 4R’s on the right to see what we are currently doing to Reduce, Reuse, Recycle and Recover.

The Challenge

This site is part of a concerted effort by the UK plastics industry to engage the public in a nationwide debate about the use, reuse and disposal of plastics.

Plastics Europe British Plastics Federation Packaging and Films Association

Plastics are now such an integral part of our daily lives that virtually everything we do and much of the food and drink we consume involves the use of plastics in some form or other. The range of fields and activities in which we use plastics is truly amazing from packaging, through manufacture of a hugely wide range of products to healthcare and agriculture. It has become the ultimate material for the 21st century and makes our lives possible in a way that could hardly be imagined without it.

But what do we do with the material after we have used it? Unfortunately discarded plastics have become a symbol of mankind’s waste of resources. Too much of the plastics that we use as a society are eventually thrown into landfill especially in the UK. This is a very bad habit and an inappropriate use of scarce resources both in terms of land and the plastics themselves. What is more, it is completely avoidable if we all thought about things differently. We probably won’t have any choice because the EU is raising the cost of putting rubbish into landfill to such an extent that by 2020 our bad habits will be costing all of us in the UK a lot of money out of our own pockets.

However, it does not have to be that way as with more thought we could reduce, reuse, recycle and recover plastics as a society much more efficiently than we do and avoid the need altogether for plastics to go to landfill.

Landfill

This is a very desirable goal – but it also represents a challenge – a challenge for the plastics industry; for government policy; for although those manufacturers who use plastics in their products; for food manufacturers and retailers who use plastics in packaging; for environmentalist groups who advise us on how we should live, and ultimately for you as a consumer and human being.

That is why it is an important and very complex debate and why we think all voices should be heard.

Form your own views, let us know them on this site and get involved in the Plastics 2020 Challenge.

Site Sponsors

Plastics Europe

PlasticsEurope is one of the leading European trade associations with offices in Brussels, Frankfurt, London, Madrid, Milan and Paris.

We are networking with European and national plastics associations and have more than 100 member companies, producing over 90% of all polymers across the 27 EU member states plus Norway, Switzerland, Croatia and Turkey.

For further information, visit http://www.plasticseurope.org

British Plastics Federation

The British Plastics Federation (BPF) is the leading trade association for the UK Plastics Industry, with over 400 members and 1200 affiliated members.

Encompassing the whole plastics supply chain including raw material suppliers, processors, machinery suppliers and recyclers. BPF membership covers over 75% of the plastics industry by turnover.

For further information, visit http://www.bpf.co.uk

Packaging and Films Association

PAFA (the Packaging and Films Association) combines the former PIFA and FPA. It represents the £2 billion UK industry for the development and manufacture of films and the conversion of lightweight flexible packaging and rigid sheet.

PAFA’s core role supports around 80% of the highly innovative flexibles industry in the UK and also provides strong European links and influence.

For further information, visit http://www.pafa.org.uk