The coronavirus pandemic continues to circle the globe and nations are carrying various moves to cope with it, but it is good to know that many other problems are also being acted upon, such as the mountains of plastics wastes that have long been rising on the world’s ocean beds. This last weekend, Nestle, Unilever, and other food and beverage companies signed the European Plastics Pact, a public-private coalition which seeks to accelerate the move towards a “circular economy” for plastic packaging. The European Plastics Pact was organized in 2020 by the Dutch, French, and Danish governments to provide an opportunity for governments and businesses to work together for a greener future. “We have to start treating plastic as the valuable raw material it is and keep it out of our oceans,” Dutch Minister for Environment Stientje van Veldhoven said at the time the pact was organized.

Efforts to solve world plastics problem continue. (2020, March 18). Manila Bulletin, p. 4.