Ever tried shopping without buying any plastic? It’s everywhere, and most of us have no choice but to bring the stuff into our homes every single time we go out shopping. We’re told that recycling is the answer… but our plastic recycling system is actually creating an even bigger problem…

Plastic waste from the EU is routinely shipped abroad, where it ends up polluting rivers and poisoning communities. It's environmental racism, plain and simple.

But we can change this: The European Parliament wants the EU to stop dumping its plastic waste abroad and crack down on traffickers in Europe.

If we can convince Environment Ministers to agree, we’ll have a law to finally stem the tide of Europe's plastic pollution! The EU's 27 national Environment Ministers will decide soon, and we can’t let them give in to the plastic industry lobby. Can you tell them to do the right thing?

Tell EU governments to support the plastic waste export ban.

A 2022 Human Rights Watch investigation showed how plastic recycling workers and nearby residents in Türkiye suffer from respiratory problems, severe headaches and skin conditions. Worse yet, many workers in the recycling facilities are from the most vulnerable groups in society including children, refugees and undocumented migrants.

Türkiye is the largest recipient of EU plastic, but EU plastic waste is shipped anywhere and everywhere!

Banning plastic exports would also force the EU to face up to the true scale of its plastic pollution problem. As long as the EU can ship its plastic waste elsewhere, there is little incentive to stop making so much throwaway plastic in the first place.

The EU could fix this, but industry lobbyists are pushing to carry on business as usual. Let’s remind our governments that the plastics industry doesn’t elect them, WE DO!

Tell EU governments to stop suffocating the world with our plastic waste.

Thousands of Ekō members like you have already been working toward this goal by participating in the Break Free From Plastic annual plastic pollution audit, by pressuring Nestlé, the world’s n°1 food and beverage company, to switch to reusable packaging, and by chipping in to help us lead impactful actions against companies profiteering from plastic pollution.

Today, you can make sure that the EU rethinks its entire approach to plastic by banning plastic waste exports.

Tell EU governments to ban plastic waste exports now!

Ekō's partners in this campaign are: Break Free From Plastic, WeMove Europe, Environmental Investigation Agency, Rethink Plastic and Zero Waste Europe.

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