Plastics
Overview

Plastic waste is choking our planet – polluting the air, water, and soil both people and wildlife need to survive. And as this crisis spreads to every corner of the globe, WWF is leading the charge to help reimagine how we source, design, dispose of, and reuse the plastic materials communities most depend upon. Because while plastic can help make our hospitals safer, our food last longer, and our packages more efficient to ship, it has no place in nature.
Every day plastic is flowing into our natural environment at an unprecedented rate – a dump truck every minute into our oceans alone. It’s time to turn off the tap. Together. WWF is uniting our global networks of industry leaders, consumers, and policymakers to transform our systems, so the plastics we discard become plastics we use again.
As everyday people continue doing their part to reduce, reuse, and recycle, WWF is engaging policymakers to ensure the plastics leaving recycling bins stay in effective waste management systems, and out of the hands of illegal plastic traffickers.
Through our ReSource:Plastic activation hub, we’re helping some of the world’s leading companies translate ambitious plastic commitments into measurable change – both across their business operations, and well beyond their supply chains. We’re working on the ground with local partners from Indonesia to Peru to keep plastic out of our planet’s most extraordinary ecosystems. And in oceans the world over we’re supporting communities and fishing crews, big and small, to improve gear use and recovery, so issues like abandoned nets no longer pose one of the biggest threats to marine life.
WWF is fighting for a world with no plastic in nature by 2030. It’s a world where our oceans teem with marine life, not discarded nets, bottles and bags. Where no human breathes the toxic fumes of burning plastic. And where every indispensable plastic product is used to make another.
It’s a world where people and nature thrive together. Join us.
Whales and the plastics problem
Protecting whales is crucial to protecting healthy oceans for all of us. Yet even these ocean giants are being impacted by the "deadliest predator in the sea": plastic pollution.

Why It Matters
What WWF Is Doing
Everyone takes action
Each one of us is part of the solutions needed for a plastic revolution. WWF works to raise awareness about ways we can address plastic waste in our daily lives, through the choices we make about our consumption and habits. Whether it’s skipping some single-use plastic packing or carrying a reusable water bottle, we educate our WWF members and activists about the impact they can make to help end plastic pollution.

A Plastics Revolution
WWF’s campaign “No Plastic in Nature” aims to fix a broken system using a holistic approach. There is no single solution to plastic pollution, we need a combination of strategies and engagement from all actors. By engaging all actors – government, businesses, and the public – we can examine every aspect of the life cycle of any given plastic material, and identify key elements that are ripe for intervention.
While our aim is to eliminate the leakage of plastic into nature by 2030, we have also set a goal for 2021: establishing a global legally-binding agreement to end plastic pollution. Such an agreement would introduce specific targets and pave the way for each nation to devise an action plan for addressing the plastic pollution epidemic. WWF is committed to engaging with the United States government and securing our elected officials’ support on this “Paris for Plastics”.
Engaging the private sector
Companies are uniquely positioned to help drive large-scale transformative change, by improving their own plastic pollution footprint as well as influencing other key stakeholders like governments and consumers to do the same.
Through WWF’s activation hub, ReSource: Plastic, we seek to redesign how businesses source, use and dispose of plastics. To learn more about ReSource: Plastic, please visit resource-plastic.com.
In coordination with several global consumer brand companies, WWF has also established the Bioplastic Feedstock Alliance (BFA), a science-driven organization which aims to evaluate diverse bioplastic feedstocks to better understand the potential sustainability opportunities of each. The BFA helps the bioplastic industry’s emerging supply chain move in a positive direction.
Ghost gear
A major threat to marine biodiversity, abandoned fishing gear, or ghost gear, is estimated to comprise up to 10% of plastic waste in our oceans, by volume. While this may seem like a small number, ghost gear is the most harmful form of plastic pollution to marine species. Ghost gear continues to capture wildlife well after it’s abandoned, pollute habitats, and enters the food web as it degrades. Ghost gear impacts 45% of all marine mammals on the Red List of Threatened Species[1].
Press Releases
- NGOs and Businesses Call for UN Treaty on Plastic Pollution October 14, 2020
- U.S. Plastics Pact Launches to Ignite Change Toward Circular Economy for Plastic August 25, 2020
- One Year In, Major Companies Come Together in an Unprecedented Step Toward Transparency on the Global Plastic Waste Crisis June 08, 2020
Experts
How You Can Help
Fight Against Plastic Pollution
Eight million metric tons of plastic are leaking into our oceans every year. Ask our government leaders to help stop plastics from leaking into our oceans.
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