The Ellen MacArthur Foundation is urging more companies to back global efforts against plastic waste with a bold new action plan setting the direction for the next five years, launched today [4 November 2025].
The 2030 Plastics Agenda for Business calls on businesses to work together, not just on their own, to drive market transformation. Reflecting on a decade of progress, it defines what’s needed to tackle plastic waste and build a circular economy, setting out three key levers:
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Collective advocacy by businesses to help shape ambitious, effective policy;
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Collaborative action to share risks, costs, and innovation to tackle barriers;
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Aligned individual action to keep pushing boundaries within businesses today to inspire policy and market change.
By acting early and collectively, leading businesses will be in a position to shape regulation, lower transition costs, and speed up progress through shared advocacy and innovation.
The evidence-based report highlights the meaningful progress that has been made by a pioneering group of companies – representing a fifth of the world’s plastic packaging market – through their backing of the Global Commitment initiative.
Collectively, signatories have avoided 14 million tonnes of virgin plastics, the equivalent of 1.8 trillion plastic bags or saving one barrel of oil every second. They have also tripled their use of recycled content and eliminated billions of problematic packaging items.
But the Foundation highlights major challenges that still exist, with 80% of the market yet to step forward, and on average, lagging behind those who have. In addition, even the most ambitious businesses face systemic barriers they cannot overcome alone, such as scaling reuse models, tackling flexible packaging waste, and building effective collection and recycling infrastructure.
Its 2030 Agenda calls for mainstreaming proven solutions, addressing systemic barriers – from scaling reuse and tackling flexible packaging waste to building effective collection and recycling infrastructure – and creating enabling government policy that aligns incentives with circular outcomes.
“Many business leaders ask me what comes next. My answer is simple: don’t wait. The companies that act now can help shape effective policies and make circular solutions the new normal,” said Rob Opsomer, Executive Lead for Plastics and Finance at the Ellen MacArthur Foundation.
“By working together, they’ll cut transition costs and build resilience in a fast-changing world. They can make what once seemed impossible not only possible but ultimately inevitable.”
