On September 20, the U.S. Department of State announced that during the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly, Jose W. Fernandez, Under Secretary of State for Economic Growth, Energy and Environmental Affairs, launched the International Partnership to End Plastic Pollution (EPPIC) with $15 million in initial funding from the United States.

EPPIC is a public-private partnership that facilitates governments, ngos and businesses to support innovative solutions to the plastic pollution crisis - supporting projects around the world to make plastic products more sustainable throughout their life cycle, starting with changes in design and use.

The plastic pollution crisis affects our biodiversity, health, food security and economy. To address this, the EPPIC will drive commitments and raise funds to deploy pilot solutions and exchange best practices on tackling plastic pollution. EPPIC will also hold prize competitions for initiatives that make the design, production and management of plastics more circular. It will fund training for communities around the world that are heavily impacted by plastic pollution, help them monitor and report on plastic pollution, and advocate for solutions at local, regional and national levels.

As a multi-stakeholder effort, the EPPIC complements and builds on USAID's collaboration with countries to fight plastic pollution under the Save Our Oceans Initiative and Clean Urban Blue Oceans, 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 the host of the EPPIC partnership, with the Aspen Institute, the Sea Foundation and Searious Business as initial partners. We expect other ngos, foundations and businesses to join us in the coming months.

It can be predicted that recycled plastic resource equipment such as plastic cleaning lines, electrostatic sorters, crushers, and empty machines will usher in a wave of growth in the United States.