1,000 organisations, 20% of global packaging: circular plastics gaining ground

Each year, approximately 400 million tonnes of plastic are produced worldwide. A fraction is recycled; a significant portion ends up in the oceans, soils or incinerators. This trajectory is not inevitable — it is a design problem.

In November 2024, the Ellen MacArthur Foundation published the results of the Global Commitment: more than 1,000 organisations — including companies representing 20% of all plastic packaging produced in the world and more than 50 signatory governments — have mobilised behind a shared vision: a circular economy for plastic, in which this material never becomes waste.

This is not a petition. Signatories — multinational food companies, packaging manufacturers, retailers and governments — commit to concrete targets to eliminate problematic plastics, increase reuse and recycling rates, and incorporate recycled content into their products.

The shift in logic is simple: design materials to stay in circulation, not to end up in an incinerator or on a beach. The fact that 20% of global plastic packaging is now covered by this commitment is a signal that the industrial transition is already under way — not merely wished for.

Two caveats are worth naming. First, these commitments are not legally binding: monitoring relies on self-reporting, with no enforcement mechanism. Second, the Ellen MacArthur Foundation is co-funded by plastic industry players — including Dow, SABIC and Unilever, who are also Global Commitment signatories. Its publications should be read with that structural interest in mind: the voluntary-transition scenario is precisely the one that suits its funders.

Further reading: The Circular Economy Is Not a Label — It Is an Industrial Model ✿ Coming soon — subscribe to get notified