Clock ticking for millions to join Plastic Free July Challenge

14 / 07 / 2020

By Marwa Nassar - -

Clock is ticking for millions of people to join the Plastic Free July Challenge which is meant to curb plastic pollution which is causing severe harm for the planet.

The challenge is meant to come up with resources and ideas to help people around the world to reduce single-use plastic waste every day and find great alternatives that can become new habits forever.

The launch of this challenge coincides with the International Plastic Bag Free Day which falls on July 3.

The International Plastic Bag Free Day offers a unique opportunity for spreading awareness worldwide that a plastic bag free world is possible.

This international day brings attention to the environmental impact and hazards of single-use plastic bags as well as means of promoting sustainable solutions.

The European Commission strategy against plastic packaging:

As statistics show, every European inhabitant produces 173 kg of packaging waste every year. The only way to address this problem is with waste prevention measures that stop packaging waste from being produced in the first place, alongside measures to support business models that are waste-free by design, like packaging free and reusable systems.

That’s why Zero Waste Europe has in collaboration with Réseau Vrac – the only professional organization dedicated to the bulk industry, including sale of products to consumers without packaging, in France and worldwide – commissioned a study to Eunomia, to understand the state of art of the packaging free world.

Moving the EU single market away from disposable packaging and towards waste prevention and reuse, is a clear objective of the European Commission (EC), as outlined in the current packaging and waste directives, as well as expressed in the Communication on the European Green Deal and the new Circular Economy Action Plan.

Moreover, in the European Strategy for Plastics in a Circular Economy, the EC asserted that “by 2030, all plastics packaging placed on the EU market is reusable or easily recycled”.