Plastic has transformed our lives. But unless we act now, to make it safe and sustainable, plastic will devastate our futures.

More than eight billion tonnes of plastic has been produced, and less than 10 per cent has been recycled. That means more than 90 per cent of this fossil-fuel-based material has either been landfilled, incinerated, or survives today to leak into our environment.

If plastic production increases as forecast, we will be drowning in more than 25 billion tonnes of plastic waste by 2050.

Alongside this escalating waste problem is a growing concern about the risks posed to human health by exposure to toxic chemicals across the plastic production life cycle, including chemicals that leach from plastic during use and as waste. These poisons and micro- and nano-plastics contaminate the water we drink, the food we eat — even the air we breathe.

Minderoo Foundation’s vision is a world with no plastic waste, made possible by a thriving circular plastics economy where human and environmental safety is prioritised to drive shifts in how plastics are produced, used, and responsibly recycled.

On behalf of the next generation, we are committed to:

• limiting plastics made from fossil fuels;
• increasing plastics that are recycled, reused, and made from alternatives;
• eliminating harmful plastic chemicals and additives; and
• ending leakage of plastic-related pollution into the environment and humans.

Minderoo Foundation will achieve this by working with scientists, clinicians, research teams, financial institutions, legal experts, NGOs, governments, and global organisations. Together we will influence the United Nations Global Plastics Treaty and pursue regulatory and market-based solutions to drive real change.

We are already measuring plastics in the environment and in people by supporting policymakers with hard scientific data:

• Our Plastic Waste Makers Index is a publication that identifies the biggest producers of virgin plastic.
• The Minderoo Centre — Plastics and Human Health facilitates world-leading research to measure plastic chemicals and particles in humans.
• Global Plastic Watch uses satellite imagery and artificial intelligence to identify plastic waste over time to help manage and mitigate the world’s plastic pollution problem.

By 2040, plastic production is set to double. Over the next twelve months, through our commitment to collaborate and lead internationally credible research, we will start to provide solutions for the production, use, and recycling of plastics. Costs to industry and harm to individuals must be significantly reduced by scaling up plastic waste collection and recycling, strengthening regulation to ensure safety, and adopting alternative green materials. Our dedication to facilitating change will result in beneficial impacts on both people and the planet.

If plastic production is set to double by 2040, so will our efforts.