Compared with metal, wood, glass and other materials, plastic has become an indispensable part of human economic activities with relatively low process energy consumption, less carbon emissions, more affordable prices, more extensive functions and more diverse applications. The current use of plastics in the world is more than 20 times that of half a century ago, and is expected to double again in the next decade. [1]

However, although it is an important raw material, due to the linear value chain model of "acquire manufacture scrap", plastics, a valuable raw material, become "waste and garbage" after use. After a short period of initial use, 95% of plastic packaging lost its value, equivalent to a loss of 80 billion to 120 billion dollars per year. [2] Relevant research shows that the industrial sector accounts for about 21% of the total global carbon dioxide emissions. The emissions from the production of plastics, cement, steel and aluminum account for about 60% of the total industrial emissions. In 2019 alone, plastics produced 1.8 billion tons of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions - accounting for 3.4% of global emissions - 90% of which came from the production and transformation of fossil fuels. Realizing the material cycle can greatly reduce the carbon footprint of plastics. [3]

With the development of China's economy and the improvement of living consumption level, the consumption of plastic continues to grow, and the following plastic waste is also gradually increasing, resulting in increasing environmental pollution pressure. In order to deal with this outstanding environmental problem, from April 2022, with the support of the United Nations Development Programme Global Environment Facility Small Grants Program, the China Environmental Protection Federation and the Green Renewable Plastics Supply Chain Joint Working Group (GRPG) jointly designed and began to implement the project of "plastic pollution control in the full value chain model". The project will explore and practice solutions for upstream, middle and downstream management of plastic pollution together with all stakeholders in the plastic value chain, carry out baseline analysis of the whole plastic industry chain, and identify key challenges and problems in the field of plastic pollution control in China; Develop and build community zero waste management system demonstration sites to form a community level plastic reduction model; Carry out policy communication and advocacy on key issues of plastic pollution control, and promote the formulation and implementation of relevant policies; At the same time, we worked with multiple stakeholders to promote the awareness of the whole society on plastic pollution and promote the generation of plastic reduction actions.