UK said to be fourth highest private investor in plastic circularity

The Circulate Initiative is a non-profit organisation that aims to solve the ocean plastic pollution issue in emerging markets. 

It has launched a series of country factsheets highlighting the current state of investments that have made to tackle plastic pollution in 50 countries. These have been released following the fourth session of the International Negotiating Committee to discuss the Global Plastic Treaty. 

The charity reported that the US topped the list for private capital investments, having reportedly invested $64.8 billion (£51.7 billion) in plastics circularity with France and Canada rounding out the top three. 

‘Cautiously optimistic’ 

Umesh Madhavan, research director at the Circulate Initiative said: “Following INC-4, we are cautiously optimistic about member state aspirations to work towards an ambitious plastics pollution treaty.

“The mobilisation of different sources and types of financing, and the creation and operationalisation of the environmental fund for the treaty will be key factors to its success. Alongside the investment landscape, we hope the factsheets provide decision makers with a critical overview to identify opportunities and drive more capital into circular solutions.”

UK 

According to the Circulate Initiative’s fact sheet, the UK’s highest private investor in plastic Circularity is Viridor, which invested $5 billion (£3.9 billion) in 2020. The sheet also shows that in total the UK has spent $73.8 billion (£58.9 billion) in total investments into waste and plastic waste management for the period 2018-2021.