A major European plastics plan has been launched, with more 16 governments and 66 businesses signing up to the bid to tackle waste.

The European Plastics Pact aims to speed the move towards the reuse and recycling of single-use plastic products and packaging. The organisers claim it is the first cross-border pact of its kind.

France, the Netherlands and Denmark kicked off the "public-private coalition" alongside some high-profile brands, such as Nestle.

Where was the launch?

The official launch was held on Friday 6 March in Brussels and included an address by Frans Timmermans, vice-president of the European Commission.

What are the targets?

The aim is for better life-cycle management of plastics. This includes the objective of making all plastic packaging and single-use plastic products on the market reusable where possible or at least recyclable by 2025.

The plan's mission statement reads: "In the face of the proliferation of plastic waste, the aim of the pact is to set ambitious common objectives and to encourage cooperation, innovation and harmonization at the European level, in order to bring about a truly circular European plastics economy."

Who has signed up?

The governments of France, the Netherlands and Denmark have initiated the pact in consultation with organizations across Europe.

Nestle said it would make "100 percent of its packaging recyclable or reusable and reduce its use of virgin plastics by one-third by 2025."

The company said this would bring it "closer to its vision that none of its packaging, including plastics, ends up in landfill nor in oceans, lakes and rivers."

Unilever, Suez and Bonduelle are other big organizations that have backed the initiative.

'An end date set for single-use plastic'

The aim of the pact is also to support these objectives by providing a "platform to exchange ideas, display good practices and discuss challenges."

It is the first regional pact and joins the country-level ones already in place in the UK, France, Chile, the Netherlands, South Africa and Portugal.

Brune Poirson, France's junior minister for Ecological and Inclusive Transition, said: "By passing the circular economy anti-waste act, France has set an end date for the application of all single-use plastic packaging in its law.

"This huge step requires changing production and consumption patterns within the next 20 years."

^{Dilyana Mihaylova, from Fauna and Flora International, explains the issue with microplastics}