The Prince's Charities International Sustainability Unit (established by HRH The Prince of Wales) and the Global Ocean Commission are convening a meeting titled “Marine Plastic Waste and the Circular Economy: Building Long-term Solutions to Immediate Challenges,” on 18 March 2015, in Washington, DC, US. The event aims to facilitate a constructive and creative dialogue framed around four broad areas: linkages between short-term action on preventing and eliminating plastic waste from entering the marine environment, and longer-term systemic change towards a circular economy; opportunities for the private sector to collaborate with other stakeholders, particularly the development and private finance communities, to scale up waste management approaches; remaining gaps in knowledge and data required to address plastic waste entering the marine environment, particularly with respect to the material flow of plastic through the supply chain and infrastructure requirements for effective management; and the need for integration of regional and local stakeholders into this global narrative, and the common but differentiated roles and responsibilities of these stakeholders in creating systems change.  

date: 18 March 2015  
location: Washington D.C., US  
contact: Klaas de Vos  
phone: +44-7808-242-931  
e-mail: klaas.devos@royal.gsx.gov.uk  
www: www.globaloceancommission.org
 http://www.globaloceancommission.org/proposal-5-plastics-keeping-them-out-of-the-ocean/