“As a united, global industry, we’ve come a long way from where we started in 2011,” said Callum Chen from the Asia Plastics Forum. “Today we have active marine litter prevention programs occurring in all regions of the globe and we are continually pursuing opportunities to grow our work.”

The Global Declaration was launched in March 2011 at the 5th International Marine Debris Conference by 47 plastics associations from regions across the globe. Recognizing their important role in fighting marine litter, these plastics associations have launched and are supporting projects in six key areas aimed at contributing to sustainable solutions. The six focus areas of the Global Declaration are education, research, public policy, sharing best practices, plastics recycling/recovery, and plastic pellet containment.

Since initiating the Global Declaration, signatories have identified numerous specific actions designed to fulfill these commitments across six focus areas and have agreed to track and report progress. In 2013 the Global Declaration also became part of the United Nations Environment Programme’s Global Partnership on Marine Litter.

Today, 65 associations in 34 countries have signed on to the Global Declaration, and the 260 projects under way, planned or completed (as of December 2015), represent a nearly 165 percent increase in the number of projects since the Global Declaration’s announcement.

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