'Single-Use Plastic Reduction Movement' Launched

Sustainable Food Platform establishes roadmap for single-use plastic reduction across all member organizations. The Sustainable Food Platform (SGP), with over 50 member organizations, is integrating a "Single-Use Plastic Reduction Initiative" into its work during Plastic Free July® to drive sustainable food transformation across the entire ecosystem. Under this mission, the Sustainable Packaging Group, operating within the SGP's Circularity in Food Working Group, is targeting phased reduction of single-use plastics in the food sector—a category that has seen significant increases, particularly during the Covid-19 period. Drawing on the Plastic Free July® initiative, which launched in 2011 and has reached over 100 million participants across 190 countries to date, the Sustainable Food Platform has established a roadmap with member organizations to lead single-use plastic reduction in the food sector. The initiative will initially focus on corporate-level actions, with the second phase targeting individual single-use plastic consumption reduction. Another key objective of the "Single-Use Plastic Reduction Initiative" in the food sector is to ensure all SGP members obtain "Zero Waste" certification. Member information meetings on this topic will commence in the coming weeks. Single-use plastics are defined as materials wholly or partially made of plastic, designed to be used only once or for a short period before disposal and not returned to the producer for reuse—including items such as plates, cups, straws, forks, knives, and fishing nets. When plastics break down into microplastics, they reach soils, waterways, oceans, and food chains within them. Since the creation of plastic polymers in the 1950s, the production, use, and mismanagement of single-use plastics have caused destructive impacts on marine, terrestrial, and aquatic ecosystems. Research has determined that approximately 80 percent of total plastics in nature originate from single-use plastics. Through initiatives such as the New Plastics Economy and Global Commitments, governments, cities, and businesses are committed to eliminating problematic and unnecessary single-use plastic packaging through redesign, innovation, and new delivery models. In this context, numerous countries including European Union member states, the United States, New Zealand, and Australia are implementing various legal regulations, independent organization projects, and brand initiatives for the reduction or prohibition of single-use plastics and their subsequent management. In light of these developments, it is critical that work begin in Turkey's food sector—a major source of single-use plastics—and that action be guided by concrete targets. Semra Sevinç, Board Member of the Sustainability Academy, shared the following assessment of the initiative: The world faces a major threat from the excessive use of plastics across all sectors. The food sector is one of the largest sources of single-use plastics. A study of sea samples collected from the Mediterranean found plastic in 92.8 percent of samples, indicating one piece of plastic waste per four square meters in the Mediterranean basin. The largest share of the problem typically consists of single-use plastics that we thoughtlessly discard. The rapidly growing food delivery sector, combined with the increased proportion of single-use plastics during Covid-19, compels the food industry to take collective action on this issue. The greatest impact in reducing single-use plastics is prevention before they are generated at source. Meanwhile, consumers are showing willingness to change their shopping habits due to the damage plastics cause to the environment, which will facilitate brands and decision-makers in implementing plastic reduction measures more readily. As global and local awareness increases, from straws and plastic bags to single-use coffee cups and takeout containers, retailers and customers face the necessity of reducing single-use plastic consumption. As the founder and administrator of the Sustainable Food Platform, the Sustainability Academy believes that the outcomes of the "Single-Use Plastic Reduction Initiative in the Food Sector," when considered against these global impacts, will be a significant achievement for the sector's stakeholders.