Tourism businesses and destinations are uniting behind a new initiative to tackle plastic pollution at its source. The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), in collaboration with the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, have launched the Global Tourism Plastics Initiative, which sees them all work towards the common vision of a circular economy for plastics.
The Global Tourism Plastics Initiative aims to stop plastic ending up as pollution and reduce the amount of new plastic that is produced in the first place. It implements the New Plastics Economy Global Commitment vision, framework, and definitions to accelerate concerted action for the international tourism sector.
Tourism companies and destinations will make commitments for 2025 to eliminate the plastic items they don’t need; innovate so that all necessary plastics are designed to be safely reused, recycled, or composted; and circulate everything they use to keep it in the economy and out of the environment.
By taking serious, coordinated action on plastic pollution, the tourism sector can help preserve and protect the places and wildlife that make destinations worth visiting.
If you are an organisation in the tourism sector and would like to join the Global Tourism Plastics Initiative or find out more, contact tourismplastics@oneplanetnetwork.org.