The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), in collaboration with the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, have announced the Global Tourism Plastics Initiative. To promote a shift towards circularity, the initiative calls on all tourism companies and destinations to take concrete actions to tackle plastic pollution and increase plastics recycling. 

The Global Tourism Plastics initiative aims to reduce plastic pollution from the tourism sector through a set of actionable commitments by 2025. The Initiative will work to eliminate unnecessary or problematic plastic packaging and support the shift from single-use plastic towards reusable alternatives or models by 2025. The Initiative will also engage the value chain to promote 100% of plastic packaging to be reusable, recyclable or compostable and commit to collaborate and invest in increasing the recycling and composting rate for plastics.

The Initiative is an activity of the One Planet Network’s Sustainable Tourism Programme, a multi-stakeholder partnership to implement SDG 12 (responsible consumption and production). The Initiative acts as the interface between the Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s New Plastics Economy Global Commitment and the tourism sector. The New Plastics Economy Global Manager, Gerald Naber, said the initiative will unite the tourism sector behind a “vision for a world in which plastic never becomes waste or pollution.” He emphasized that concerted action can help eliminate unneeded plastics and drive innovation to ensure that needed plastics “can be safely and easily circulated—keeping them in the economy and out of the environment.”

UNWTO Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili welcomed the Initiative as an opportunity for tourism companies and destinations “to step forward and lead the global effort addressing plastic pollution.” He encouraged Initiative participants to set quantifiable targets and help accelerate the tourism sector’s transformation towards more integrated solutions and circular business models.

The Initiative will report annually on progress made towards its targets. [UNWTO Press Release] [Ellen MacArthur Foundation Press Release] [Ocean Action Hub Press Release] [Global Tourism Plastics Initiative Website]