U.S. Department of State Launches the End Plastic Pollution International Collaborative (EPPIC)

On the margins of the 78th UN General Assembly, Jose W. Fernandez, Under Secretary of State for Economic Growth, Energy, and the Environment, launched the End Plastic Pollution International Collaborative (EPPIC) with $15 million in initial U.S. funding.  EPPIC is a public-private partnership built to catalyze governments, NGOs, and businesses to support innovative solutions to the plastic pollution crisis – supporting projects around the world to make the full lifecycle of plastic more sustainable, starting with efforts to change the design and use of plastic products.

The plastic pollution crisis impacts our biodiversity, health, food security, and economies.  To tackle this problem, EPPIC will drive commitments and raise funds to deploy pilot solutions and exchange best practices for combating plastic pollution.  EPPIC will also run prize competitions for initiatives that make the design, production, and management of plastics more circular.  It will fund training for communities across the world that have been disproportionately impacted by plastic pollution to help them monitor and report on plastic pollution and advocate for local, regional, and national-level solutions.

As a multistakeholder effort, EPPIC complements and builds on USAID’s work with countries to combat plastic pollution under the Save our Seas Initiative  and Clean Cities Blue Ocean, which have made significant investments around the world to improve plastic waste management at the local level.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature is hosting the EPPIC partnership, and the Aspen Institute, the Ocean Foundation, and Searious Business are initial partners.  We expect other NGOs, foundations, and businesses to join in the coming months.

For more details and information about joining partnership, please visit https://www.iucn.org/our-work/topic/plastic-and-other-pollution/end-plastic-pollution-international-collaborative-eppic 

For press inquiries, please contact OES-PA_DG@state.gov.