Press releases
The European Plastics Pact, which launched in Brussels on 6 March 2020, today publishes the European Plastics Pact Roadmap to direct and drive forward urgent action by the 143 signatories, across 20 countries. This ambitious Roadmap will help signatories develop cross-border connections and share innovations that harmonise and accelerate the Europe-wide development of a circular economy for plastics, and significantly reduce the huge challenge of plastic wastage and littering.
WRAP today publishes its second annual report for The UK Plastics Pact showing that members have made some good progress against targets, including a reduction in the amount of plastic packaging being used, and good progress in plastic recycling at home. But warns the charity’s Chief Executive Marcus Gover, there are significant challenges ahead which need urgent attention to keep the UK on course.
- Web visits show the UK’s thoughts turn to recycling on New Year’s Day.
- Bubble and squeak, honey-glazed gammon and lamb Rogan Josh were the most searched-for post-Christmas dishes last year.
- Still some Christmas confusion over recycling – the Scrunch Test and other solutions…
- Public awareness of the environmental cost of clothes hit home during lockdown, and UK businesses need to act says WRAP.
- Sustainable Clothing Action Plan cuts carbon and water significantly as new industry agreement urges businesses to fight climate change.
- Major businesses and organisations sign up to new agreement to tackle climate change and fashion.
This year Recycle Now tapped into the cultural shift of citizens’ new-found respect for the planet, acquired during lockdown.
- Less than a third of people know that wasting food contributes to climate change
- Wasting Food: It’s Out of Date – household food waste is wrecking the environment
- If every person in the UK wasted no food at home for one day, it could have the same impact on greenhouse gases as planting half a million trees
Recycling Tracker 2020 reveals levels are higher and more consistent – but still room for improvement.
The latest Recycling Tracker, WRAP’s annual survey of UK households that gathers evidence on recycling attitudes, knowledge and behaviour, is published today: https://www.wrap.org.uk/content/recycling-tracker-report-0
The survey, the largest and longest-running of its kind, undertook a total of 5,297 interviews in March 2020 (prior to the Covid-19 lockdown).
WRAP has been selected to be the Secretariat of the recently launched European Plastics Pact, the first regional pact to join the growing global Plastics Pact network.
WRAP is delighted to have supported the development of the South African Plastics Pact; the latest in the global network working together to tackle the scourge of plastic pollution.
Today marks the launch of The Earthshot Prize, the most prestigious global environment prize in history, incentivising worldwide change with a decade of action to repair our planet.