The New Plastics Economy - Rethinking the future of plastics

Abstract

THE NEW PLASTICS ECONOMY • • • 1 The New Plastics Economy Rethinking the future of plastics THE NEW PLASTICS ECONOMY RETHINKING THE FUTURE OF PLASTICS THE NEW PLASTICS ECONOMY RETHINKING THE FUTURE OF PLASTICS2 • • • THE NEW PLASTICS ECONOMYTHE NEW PLASTICS ECONOMY • • • 3 CONTENTS Preface 4 Foreword 5 In support of the New Plastics Economy 6 Project MainStream 8 Disclaimer 9 Acknowledgements 10 Global partners of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation 14 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 15 PART I SUMMARY OF FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS 22 1 The case for rethinking plastics, starting with packaging 24 2 The New Plastics Economy: Capturing the opportunity 31 3 The New Plastics Economy demands a new approach 39 PART II CREATING AN EFFECTIVE AFTER-USE PLASTICS ECONOMY 44 4 Recycling: Drastically increasing economics, uptake and quality through compounding and mutually reinforcing actions 46 5 Reuse: Unlocking material savings and beyond 62 6 Compostable packaging: Returning nutrients to the soil for targeted packag