FUTURE
PLASTICS
ECONOMY
An
Initiative
To Keep
Plastics In
the Economy
and Out of
our Oceans
Plastics are omnipresent in our daily life; in almost everything we produce and consume. While human existence has become inseparable from plastic in modern times, the lack of a sustainable disposal mechanism for plastic waste has resulted in it piling up in many parts of the world, including our oceans, and assuming the magnitude of a global threat (Borrelle et al 2017).
The rampant use of plastics in India and inefficient waste management practices have led to plastic waste being either piled up on dumpsites or finding their way into the open sea, contributing to the global problem of marine plastic pollution. Up to 15 million tons of plastic makes its way into the Indian Ocean each year, contaminating it with a trillion pieces of plastic, making it the world’s second most polluted ocean after the North Pacific. Studies estimate there are now 15–51 trillion pieces of plastic in the world’s oceans. At current rates, plastic is expected to outweigh all the fish in the sea by 2050. Marine plastic pollution is a threat to the well-being of marine creatures and humans, and there are heavy economic costs as well. Also, being a byproduct of the fossil fuel industry, manufacturing of more and more plastics is contributing immensely to the Global Climate Change hence it is critical to keep plastics in the economy and out of the ocean.
Keeping in alignment with UN Sustainable Development Goal 14 (Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development) along with Goal 8 and 12, we at Prameya Foundation have decided to launch our Future Plastics Economy initiative, where we aim to close the loop on Ocean Bound Plastic (OBP) Waste by creating a Circular Economy for Plastics in which it never becomes a waste. Through this initiative we wish to gather organisations, companies, brands and waste collectors in the spirit of collaboration and transparency to rapidly decrease the volume of plastic litter entering our oceans. We are dedicated to demonstrating the commercial viability and advantages of integrating ocean-bound plastic into their supply chains in the context of heightened consumer, stakeholder, and policy-maker awareness of the environmental impacts of marine plastic.