Alliance to End Plastic Waste releases progress report 2024

The Alliance to End Plastic Waste has unveiled its Progress Report 2024: Evolving for Impact, which highlights five years of measurable achievements and introduces a new strategy aimed at fostering a circular economy for plastics.

Source: EndPlasticWaste

The Alliance will focus its efforts on larger-scale programs, targeting specific geographies or key challenge areas, to drive significant systems change and provide solutions for reducing and recycling plastic waste. Catalyzing capital will become increasingly crucial as the Alliance enhances its utilization of innovative financing models and partnerships to secure the necessary investments for countries to advance along the recycling maturity curve.

Since its inception in 2019, the Alliance and its partners have successfully reduced 239,985.48 tonnes of unmanaged plastic waste and valorized 253,211.80 tonnes.

As we mark five years of action, our focus is sharper than ever. The experience we’ve gained from projects across emerging economies has made clear what works, and where we must go next. Our Strategy 2030 builds on those lessons, and we are doubling down on what works to drive greater impact at scale.

^{Jacob Duer, President and CEO, Alliance to End Plastic Waste}

Five Years of Progress

The 2024 Progress Report provides a glimpse into the cumulative impact and evolving portfolio of the Alliance over the past five years:

• Six independently assured projects, including the African Reclaimers Organisation in South Africa and Recicleiros in Brazil, have showcased tangible results in plastic waste reduction and recycling.
• To date, US$610.89 million in funding has been committed by third parties and impact investors to initiatives that further the Alliance’s mission. This includes seed capital for the Plastic Circularity Fund, managed by Lombard Odier Investment Managers (LOIM), which currently comprises four portfolio companies.
• In line with its commitment to a just transition, the Alliance has heightened its support for women-owned businesses and improved working conditions for informal waste workers, resulting in the creation of 2,134 formal jobs through Alliance projects.

Evolving for Impact

Building on the lessons learned over the past five years, the Alliance is evolving its operational approach to achieve greater impact quickly and at scale, in collaboration with governments, development finance institutions, and civil society organizations.

Under the new strategy, the Alliance will pivot towards co-developing larger-scale, integrated efforts with a diverse range of partners, including governments and financial institutions, rather than focusing on smaller projects. These initiatives will be categorized as either country-specific, aligning with national priorities, or thematic, tackling persistent global challenges related to plastics circularity.