Sustainable Development Goals – what they are and why do we need them?

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were agreed under the United Nations General Assembly in 2015. They comprise 17 goals to be achieved globally by 2030.

These aim to describe the most important matters facing global development. Each goal has separate targets that enable countries and businesses around the world to implement changes across different economic sectors.

The plastics industry has already contributed significantly to achieving sustainable development at global level and its contribution is instrumental in achieving the SDGs.

Although recent years have seen growing and understandable sentiment against mismanaged plastic waste, the important benefits the plastic industry brings to everyday life are often getting lost. As world governments focus their attention to the implementation of the SDGs, it is critical to highlight areas under each SDG where the plastics industry has a very important role to play in realising these goals.

Plastics and the SDGs

This aim of this project is to highlight areas where plastic has made the most valuable contribution towards realising the SDGs.

However, given the ubiquitous nature of plastics as part of our everyday lives, all SDGs are connected to the plastics industry and plastic products. Without the contribution of the plastics industry, many of these goals would be unattainable.

More information about the SDGs and their targets can be accessed here. 

• Plastic brings numerous benefits to our everyday lives, enabling many other cutting-edge technologies and significantly reducing food waste. Plastic products have contributed globally to meeting societal needs in all economic sectors. However, plastic pollution and the mismanagement of plastic waste is a growing environmental problem that has received a lot of public attention in recent years.

• The UK plastics industry has made strong commitments and taken action in several areas to help tackle this problem and help transition to a resource efficient, circular economy. Plastic is a valuable material that needs to be used responsibly and managed in an environmentally safe manner at the end of its life.

• The fast pace at which industrial economies have evolved and a failure of society to tackle littering and to put in place appropriate waste management infrastructure has led to concerns about the growing scale of plastic waste and pollution around the world. 

• Denying the benefits of plastic means increased environmental costs associated with rising greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and food waste. Replacing plastics with alternative materials could result in a four-fold increase in environmental costs.[1]

• Plastic waste pollution is one of the major environmental challenges of our times but in fighting this we need to preserve the numerous benefits of plastics, without which our societal needs would not be met. The balance between resource efficiency, decreasing GHG emission levels and preserving the benefits of plastics needs to be carefully considered. 

• Constraints on the natural world as part of the transition to a resource efficient, circular economy model and arresting climate change must encourage ‘holistic thinking’ when it comes to solving plastic pollution. A ‘silo’ mentality when it comes to environmental challenges runs the risk of fixing one issue while triggering others if we do not embrace a holistic understanding of synergies and trade-offs.

• Plastic use and production are often portrayed in highly negative terms in the media as the public reconciles with the realities of mismanaged plastic waste. However, making smart choices about plastic consumption and educating ourselves about how to value this material is the best way forward.

Dr Robin Kent of Tangram Technology has authored a discussion paper that looks at the role of plastics in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.

If you are a member of the BPF and have an interesting case study about how your company is contributing to meeting the UN’s SDGs please contact [email protected].

Find out more about how plastic can help us reach a range of UN Sustainable Development Goals:

• Zero Hunger
• Good Health & Well-being 
• Clean Water and Sanitation
• Affordable and Clean Energy
• Decent Work and Economic Growth
• Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure
• Sustainable Cities and Communities
• Responsible Consumption and Production
• Climate Action
• Life Below Water

[1]Plastics and Sustainability: A Valuation of Environmental Benefits, Costs and Opportunities for Continuous Improvement, Trucost, 2016, available at https://www.trucost.com/publication/plastics-and-sustainability/