The Swedish EPA’s roadmap for sustainable plastic use

The roadmap provides a comprehensive overview and a guiding framework for where we are headed and what we mean by sustainable plastics use. It is also intended to serve as an inspiration for action. The aim is to create a shared understanding of the transitions that need to occur and the priority areas for development. Stakeholders should be able to use the roadmap as support for decision-making, as a basis for strategic work, and in more practical terms to identify opportunities to contribute. It also offers the possibility to join forces and collaborate on issues that individual organizations cannot solve on their own.

Sustainable plastic use means that plastics are used in the right applications, within resource- and climate-efficient, non-toxic and circular flows, with negligible leakage. To achieve this, efforts are needed across four impact areas: “Raw materials and production with minimal environmental impact”, “Resource-smart use”, “Reduced plastic leakage into nature”, and “Significantly increased and high- quality material recycling”. Each area describes the shifts needed to meet the objectives, as well as the indicators that will be used for follow-up.