Alliance to End Plastic Waste publishes progress report

The Alliance to End Plastic Waste has published its 2025 Progress Report, Strategy in Action, marking the first year of implementation under its Strategy 2030 framework and reporting cumulative reductions of 378,147 tons of unmanaged plastic waste and valorization of 418,529 tons since its founding in 2019.

In 2025 alone, the Alliance reduced 138,162 tons of unmanaged plastic waste and valorized 165,317 tons. Since 2019, it has catalyzed 641m USD in funding commitments from third parties and impact investors and reached more than 1.5 million people through education and behavior-change initiatives. In 2025, it engaged 559 organizations to finance, develop and implement its projects.

Under Strategy 2030, the Alliance is transitioning from standalone projects to larger-scale integrated Country Programs in Brazil, Saudi Arabia, India, Indonesia and South Africa, and a Thematic Program in Europe and North America focused on flexible plastics, among the most widely used yet hardest-to-recycle materials.

In the US, the Alliance is piloting a new collection model for flexible plastics from commercial and industrial sites in Phoenix, Arizona, working with RME Defeats Waste to bring on-site baling and on-demand collection to smaller generators, including manufacturers and hospitals. The Alliance has also commissioned a study of the US flexible plastics system to map supply and demand and quantify end-market opportunities for recycled flexible plastics, directly relevant to label and flexible packaging converters navigating recyclate availability ahead of tightening EPR requirements.

'2025 was an important first year for Strategy 2030 as we strengthened the foundations for impact at scale and systems change,' said Jacob Duer, president and CEO of the Alliance to End Plastic Waste. 'We have made important progress this year and are building momentum for the years ahead.'