Plastic Free July and circular economy

THE SUNRISE OF A NEW SUSTAINABLE BEAUTY

The plastic bottle that floats in the waves - unfortunately, one of many - bring a strong and clear message: if we don’t want to find ourselves immersed in a sea of plastic and styrofoam, we must accept the challenge and embrace the green economy.

9 million tons of plastic lands in the ocean every year representing a serious threat to our eco-system, effectively synthesized by the announcement of Ellen MacArthur Foundation in 2016, according to which, if we proceed in this way, by 2050 there may be more plastic in the oceans than fish.

People increasingly aware of this risk and the movement Plastic Free July, born in 2011 in Perth, Western Australia, as a small local initiative, is today a global movement able to involve millions people around the world. Every year, from seven years, the movement has the focus to raise public awareness of a more conscious use of plastic materials with the aim to reduce, reuse and recycle plastic use and consumption, in the innovative perspective of the circular economy for quality growth. 

Indeed, if is true that the thermal insulating and technical-physical properties of plastic make it a material difficult to replace, is fundamental our commitment to recycling it. We are now producing nearly 300 million tons of plastic every year, half of which is for single use, only 3% is recycled and more than 8 million tons of plastic is dumped into our oceans. Alarming numbers, especially for the European citizens, particularly attentive to environmental sustainability. In a recent Eurobarometer's survey is emphasized that in Europe 90% of people are seriously worried about the environmental impact caused by plastic.

This are the permises with which the EU in 2018 commits itself to pursuing the “European strategy for plastic in a circular economy”, a program with the focus to revisit the whole flow of plastic, from design to recycling. This is a big opportunity also for green fashion and eco-design world, that can find in the recycled plastic an almost infinite catalog of shapes and colors.

So today, the key to a conscious use of plastic materials is not to abolish them but commit to recycling. In this context, take up the challenge of “Plastic Free July” means to look further the sea of waste to see beyond the horizon the sunrise of a new sustainable beauty.