Amsterdam, 21 February 2019– Today Stientje van Veldhoven (D66), State Secretary of Infrastructure and Water Management, presents the Plastic Pact NL. This agreement, signed by approximately eighty companies and organizations, would have to combat the plastic soup. The parties agree to reduce the environmental pressure of plastic and to stimulate circularity. But even if the Plastic Pact is successful in this goal, it is not a solution for the plastic soup.
The overall suggestion of the agreement is that we can master the plastic soup through better and increased recycling. However, to combat the plastic soup, effective measures such as expansion of bottle deposits, should be taken immediately. Also a legally anchored objective to reduce the production and use of (single use) plastic in absolute terms, is of great importance. The growth of the plastic production, however, remains unrestrained, this is expected to increase worldwide by 10 percent over the next ten years.
Maria Westerbos, Director of the Plastic Soup Foundation: “We were not involved in the creation of the Plastic Pact, nor did we sign it. Now we will first study the agreement on its merits. Only one thing is essential for us: the prevention of plastic in our living environment and in the ocean!”
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