Global packaging leader Amcor, together with global brand owners, retailers, nongovernmental organizations, policymakers and others, has joined in a commitment to reduce waste and pollution from plastic packaging.

Amcor Chief Executive Officer Ron Delia signed the New Plastics Economy Global Commitment on behalf of the company’s 33,000 people. The commitment, which is sponsored by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation (EMF) in collaboration with the United Nations Environment Programme, was announced today at the Our Ocean Conference in Bali, Indonesia. Amcor is a core partner of the EMF’s New Plastics Economy initiative.

“Plastic packaging is vital for products used by billions of consumers around the globe,” said Amcor’s Mr. Delia. “It’s highly effective and easy to adapt, so that those products are safe, nutritious and effective. We’re constantly innovating to make plastic packaging even better, including in protecting the environment.”

For example, last month Amcor announced a breakthrough, flexible-plastic film that provides high-barrier protection, can be used in sterilized packaging and is recyclable.

To enhance collection and reuse of plastic packaging, Mr. Delia said, Amcor is collaborating with other organizations “to close a critical gap in available waste-management and recycling systems in much of the world,”
Amcor’s commitment is in lockstep with many of its major customers, including Danone, L’Oréal, MARS, PepsiCo, The Coca-Cola Company and Unilever. Commitment targets will be reviewed every 18 months. Amcor will publish data in its annual Sustainability Review to illustrate progress.

In January 2018, Amcor became the first global packaging company pledging to develop all its packaging to be recyclable or reusable by 2025, directly addressing a major environmental issue with its unique combination of capability, scale and reach.