The Swedish EPA’s roadmap for the sustainable use of plastics: Inspiring action
The Swedish Environmental Protection Agency’s roadmap provides an overall picture and a guide for where we are going and what we mean by sustainable use of plastics. It is intended to create a unified understanding of what changes are needed and which areas for development are particularly important to work with. The roadmap should also inspire others to act. The roadmap is based on existing legislation, strategies, and goals nationally, in the EU and globally. Decision-makers in both the private and public sectors should be able to use the roadmap to support deciding what path to take, as a basis for strategic work and, even more practically, how to contribute. The roadmap also provides options for combining forces and collaborating on issues that individual organisations cannot solve alone. Sustainable plastic use means using plastics in the right place and in resource-efficient, climate-efficient, non-toxic and circular flows with negligible leakage. To achieve this, efforts are needed in four impact areas: raw materials and production with minimal environmental impact; resource-smart use; reduced leakage of plastics to nature; and greatly expanded and high-quality material recycling. Each area describes which changes are needed to achieve the objectives and which indicators will be used for follow-up. For these changes to occur, many areas need development. The illustration shows prioritised development areas. The three development areas in the middle constitute an overlapping knowledge base. Development areas in yellow link to the “Resource-smart use” impact area, blue to “Reduce leakage”, green to “Raw material and production with minimal environmental impact” and light blue to “Sharply increased and high-quality material recycling”. Plastics are on the agenda with a lot happening in the field. The roadmap is expected to serve as a guide until 2025, after which it will need to be reassessed.
Sustainable plastic use means using plastics in the right place and in resource-efficient, climateefficient, non-toxic and circular flows with negligible leakage.This resource provides an overall picture and a shared direction for where we are going and what we mean by sustainable plastic use. providing a mutually agreed understanding of what changes are needed and the most important areas for development, it is a preliminary priority for what should be done towards sustainable consumption and production of plastics. The roadmap thus, serves as a catalyst for a change in the right direction for stakeholders amidst increasing plastic pollution. The roadmap is useful for decision-makers in both the private and public sectors, at the national level and beyound. This includes supportijng deciding making as to what path to take in the use of plastics, as well as basis for strategic work and inspiration for the ways companies, the public sector and research and development can contribute to sustainability in plastic use and production. The roadmap offers the opportunity to join forces and collaborate on issues that individual organisations cannot solve alone regarding consumption and production of plastics.Therefore, this seek to ameleorate leakage of plastics and microplastics into nature and its harmfulness to biological diversity by reducing the negative impact of consumption of materials and products through resource-efficient use and synergies with other societal goals. Regardless of their types, plastics need to be manufactured, used and managed sustainably which entails avoiding unnecessary use, that is, over-consumption of products and materials that are not needed to fulfil a function, increased reuse, efficient recycling processes and infrastructure. It also contributes to optimal product life for plastic products, including reduced unwanted wear and thus reduced leakage of microplastics, using less material to achieve the same need so that it can be used more during its lifetime. Pushing for designing products for long life and making it easy and profitable for businesses and individuals to share, repair and reuse products are both important focuses for a shift to sustainable consumption and production.