TOMRA joins new global Alliance To End Plastic Waste
Launched in January, the Alliance to End Plastic Waste comprises nearly 30 members from companies that make, use, sell, process, collect and recycle plastics, also known as the plastics value chain. The alliance also partners with the finance community, governments and NGOs working in environmental and economic development.
Norway-headquartered TOMRA – which collects 40 billion used beverage containers a year through its reverse vending machines alone – joins existing members including global consumer good giants such as P&G, PepsiCo and Henkel, plastic producers such as Dow, Exxon, LyondellBasell as well as waste Management companies Suez and Veolia.
The total $1.5 billion (€1.35 billion) commitment by members will be invested over the next five years in projects to develop solutions for minimizing and managing plastic waste and promoting recycled plastics to enable a circular economy. Areas of focus for the alliance are infrastructure, innovation, education, engagement and clean-up efforts.
TOMRA provides collection solutions via reverse vending machines and material recovery, as well as sorting solutions for the food, recycling and mining industry. This powerful combination of technologies makes it one of the world’s most advanced providers of sensor-based sorting systems.
Welcoming TOMRA to the alliance, chairman David Taylor, who is also chairman, president and CEO of Procter & Gamble, said: “The Alliance to End Plastic Waste is rapidly gathering pace and attracting influential and innovative members to our cause. This is the widest-ranging, collective effort of our time to tackle the scourge of plastic waste in the environment.”
Welcoming TOMRA to the alliance, chairman David Taylor, who is also chairman, president and CEO of Procter & Gamble, said: “The Alliance to End Plastic Waste is rapidly gathering pace and attracting influential and innovative members to our cause. This is the widest-ranging, collective effort of our time to tackle the scourge of plastic waste in the environment.”
“TOMRA has a strong track record in developing technological innovations and taking impressive action to effectively collect and sort plastics. The company brings unparalleled expertise in driving huge improvements in consumer behaviour, enabling brand owners to use high-quality recycled plastics and, ultimately, preventing vast amounts of waste. TOMRA shares our values and we wholeheartedly welcome it to the alliance.”
Founded in 1972, TOMRA employs more than 4,000 people globally and is listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange. Around 100,000 of its machines are installed in more than 80 markets worldwide.
TOMRA president and CEO, Stefan Ranstrand, said: “We feel privileged to join the Alliance to End Plastic Waste and believe that its collective action will be a catalyst to eliminating plastic pollution from our planet.
“We urgently need to transform the recycling industry by creating value out of waste. In some markets, recycling rates are as high as 98 percent, and some consumer goods companies are now making new products out of 100 percent recycled materials. But this is only a very small part of the picture, and much more must be done to preserve our world for generations to come.”
“There is real momentum in the collaboration between industry and government, and we look forward to contributing our 45+ years of experience and knowledge to help society rethink how we use and reuse resources in partnership with this innovative alliance.”
For more information on TOMRA visit tomra.com and for more on the Alliance to End Plastic Waste, visit www.endplasticwaste.org