Goal EndPlasticSoup

By 2050 there is no more plastic soup in the oceans, seas, no more plastic waste in our lakes, rivers, forests, parks and streets.
Rotary, Rotaract and Interact Clubs worldwide work together to solve and prevent the plastic pollution problem.
Take action and support projects  throughout the full cycle: Refuse, Redesign, Reduce, Reuse, Recover and Recycle to establish a circular economy.

What is Plastic Soup?

  • Plastic Soup is all plastic waste in our environment: on land, the air and in the waters.
  • 80% of the plastic pollution on land floats into our oceans and seas by rivers and through the air.
  • Plastic pollution comes from plastic that we throw away on the street, in rivers, parks, fishnets that are discarded, from washing synthetic clothing, brushing our teeth, etc. All these different types of plastic combined form the plastic soup in the seas.

Why do we want to End Plastic Soup?

Plastic pollution is a huge worldwide problem:

  • Threatening our human health
  • Killing animals and marine life
  • Reducing biodiversity on land, in the air and in the sea
  • Contributing to climate change: 10-13% of the CO2 emissions are due to the production and burning of plastics. This is more than the airline and shipping industry together.
  • During disasters microplastics can spread diseases as bacteries can grow on plastic waste.
  • Plastics never go away. Weathering, sunlight and wave action break down large pieces into small bits. This causes serious pollution. And, because plastic is non-biodegradable, the plastic soup kills marine life. The plastic is degenerating into ever smaller pieces to the point that we cannot see it anymore.
  • Microplastics are entering our food chain, the fish we eat, the water we drink, the air we inhale.

The plastics industry plans an increase of 4x – 5x more new plastics in the next 10 years.

We have to do something about it!

Why Rotary?

  • Rotary can make the difference by creating awareness, providing education, inspiring the youth, promoting alternatives, influencing decisionmakers and policies and accelerating solutions to implement a circular plastics economy.
  • Rotary has a huge network of 1.2 million Rotarians, 36.000 local Rotary/Rotaract Clubs in many countries and with different professions and networks.
  • Jointly with partners, we can accelerate solutions to prevent and solve plastic pollution.
  • Rotary did it before, connecting the world in End Polio Now. And we can all start tomorrow by using less plastic and solving this problem!

Read more about our actions or what you can do!

Our objectives

  • 1,000 extra Rotary Clubs per year that take action
  • 100,000 Rotarians (incl. family and friends) use less plastic
  • 100,000 extra children per year get education
  • Plastic-free Rotary events
  • Accelerate solutions and projects across the full plastic life cycle
  • Support Global Grant projects

Building a Circular Economy

  • Common knowledge platform
  • Network with universities and research centers
  • Alliances for education and awareness
  • Cooperation to implement and accelerate solutions
  • Lobbying to extend policies and accelerate plastic reduction plans