Who gains from saving nature
Ledger 1 : 33 — For each dollar financing nature-based solutions in 2023, about $33 financed activities harmful to nature. (UNEP)
Cases / Plastic waste and recycling claims · India · 2019–2026

Alliance to End Plastic Waste and Renew Oceans (Ganges)

Nature's voice · report
No measurement of the harm done to me here is on record.
Did nature suffer? Not measured. Disputed
Not on record
  • The record does not name which of my species, waters, soils or forests were harmed.
What the record lacks: 2 none on record · 1 not measured · 4 disputed See the gaps
Accounts of the harm differ
How much plastic has the Alliance removed or prevented?
  • Communities and civil society Greenpeace Unearthed: $375m provided and 119,000 t collected, against 132 Mt of polyethylene and polypropylene produced by five members over 2019–2023. Nation of Change
  • Company or project Alliance to End Plastic Waste: Its 2025 progress report counted 378,147 t reduced and 418,529 t valorised cumulatively; it called the 15 Mt goal "too ambitious". Alliance to End Plastic Waste (via AAP / Cision)
  • Researchers Planet Tracker: The Alliance had reached less than 1% of its target in its first three years (September 2022). KnowESG
Why did the Ganges project end after collecting under one tonne?
  • Company or project Alliance to End Plastic Waste: A "mutual termination" in October 2020, citing COVID-19.
  • Press and investigations Reuters, as reported by Packaging Insights: The project collected under one tonne against a 450 t target for 2020 and closed in March 2020. Packaging Insights

An industry alliance founded in 2019 pledged $1.5 billion over five years and a 15 million tonne goal. Its Ganges project collected less than one tonne before closing in 2020, and its later progress reports and independent analyses give different figures for what it has removed.

119,000 t vs 132 MtPlastic collected vs plastic produced by five member companies, 2019–2023
Greenpeace Unearthed, November 2024: more than 1,000 times. The Alliance's own cumulative figures are higher and use different terms (378,147 t "reduced" to 2025).

Status As of September 2026: the Alliance's 2025 progress report gives 378,147 t reduced and 418,529 t valorised against a 15 Mt goal; Unearthed (2024) put collection at 119,000 t; Renew Oceans closed in 2020.

What?
An industry-funded alliance launched in 2019 with a $1.5bn, five-year pledge and a 15 Mt goal; its Ganges project (Renew Oceans) closed in 2020 having collected under one tonne. Packaging Insights
Where?
Varanasi, India (Renew Oceans); priority countries Brazil, Saudi Arabia, India, Indonesia and South Africa. Alliance to End Plastic Waste (via AAP / Cision)
When?
Launched January 2019; Renew Oceans closed March 2020; Unearthed report November 2024; Alliance 2025 report September 2026. Nation of Change
Who?
Gained
None on record
Lost
None on record
Harmed
None on record
Why?
The Alliance's stated aim was to end plastic waste, through a pledge of $1.5 billion over five years and a goal of 15 million tonnes.
How?
The Alliance funds projects and programmes in priority countries and reports progress as plastic "diverted", "recovered", "reduced" and "valorised" and funding "catalysed" from third parties. Alliance to End Plastic Waste (via AAP / Cision)
In proportion Five member companies produced 132 Mt of polyethylene and polypropylene over 2019–2023, more than 1,000 times the 119,000 t the Alliance removed, according to Unearthed. Nation of Change
5 of 6 questions answered from the record · open: who

What happened

The record, in order.

The Alliance to End Plastic Waste (AEPW) was launched in January 2019 by 28 companies, including BASF, Dow, ExxonMobil, Shell, Procter & Gamble and SABIC, with a pledge of "$1.5 billion over the next five years". More than $1bn was committed at launch, and the goal was 15 million tonnes.

Its Renew Oceans project on the Ganges at Varanasi, India, collected less than one tonne of plastic before closing in March 2020. Its targets had been 45 t for 2019 and 450 t for 2020. The Alliance said in October 2020 that the project's end was a "mutual termination" and cited COVID-19.

In November 2024 Greenpeace's Unearthed unit reported that the Alliance had provided $375m and that 119,000 t of plastic had been collected, while five member companies (Exxon, Shell, Chevron Phillips, Total and Dow) produced 132 Mt of polyethylene and polypropylene over 2019–2023, more than 1,000 times what the Alliance removed, using Wood Mackenzie data. The Alliance called its 15 Mt goal "too ambitious".

The Alliance's own reports give different figures. Its 2024 report counted 239,985 t diverted and 253,212 t recovered since 2019. Its 2025 progress report, published in September 2026, counted 378,147 t reduced and 418,529 t valorised cumulatively, and $641m "catalysed" from third parties. Its priority countries are Brazil, Saudi Arabia (the Gulf Cooperation Council region), India, Indonesia and South Africa, with $40m for Indonesia.

Planet Tracker compared the Alliance's $1.5bn with about $400bn planned industry-wide for new plastic capacity, and Recycling Netwerk counted $89.3bn in expansion projects by Alliance members between 2014 and 2030. In September 2022 Planet Tracker said the Alliance had reached less than 1% of its target in its first three years.

  1. 2019January: Alliance launched with a $1.5bn, five-year pledge and a 15 Mt goal
  2. 2020March: Renew Oceans (Ganges) closes having collected under 1 t; October: Alliance calls it a "mutual termination", citing COVID-19
  3. 2022September: Planet Tracker says the Alliance had reached less than 1% of its target in three years
  4. 2024November: Unearthed reports $375m provided and 119,000 t collected against 132 Mt produced by five members
  5. 2026September: Alliance 2025 progress report gives 378,147 t reduced, 418,529 t valorised and $641m catalysed

What was said

Claims, in the words of those who made them.

“$1.5 billion over the next five years”

Alliance to End Plastic Waste, at launch · January 2019

“mutual termination”

Alliance to End Plastic Waste, on the end of Renew Oceans, citing COVID-19 · October 2020

“too ambitious”

Alliance to End Plastic Waste, on its 15 Mt goal, as reported by Unearthed · November 2024 · Nation of Change

Where accounts differ

Each party's account, side by side, with its source. The record does not settle these points; it shows them.

How much plastic has the Alliance removed or prevented?
Communities and civil society
Greenpeace Unearthed

$375m provided and 119,000 t collected, against 132 Mt of polyethylene and polypropylene produced by five members over 2019–2023.

Nation of Change
Company or project
Alliance to End Plastic Waste

Its 2025 progress report counted 378,147 t reduced and 418,529 t valorised cumulatively; it called the 15 Mt goal "too ambitious".

Alliance to End Plastic Waste (via AAP / Cision)
Researchers
Planet Tracker

The Alliance had reached less than 1% of its target in its first three years (September 2022).

KnowESG
Why did the Ganges project end after collecting under one tonne?
Company or project
Alliance to End Plastic Waste

A "mutual termination" in October 2020, citing COVID-19.

Press and investigations
Reuters, as reported by Packaging Insights

The project collected under one tonne against a 450 t target for 2020 and closed in March 2020.

Packaging Insights
Is the Alliance's funding proportionate to the scale of industry plastic production?
Researchers
Planet Tracker

The $1.5bn compares with about $400bn planned industry-wide for new plastic capacity.

Planet Tracker
Communities and civil society
Recycling Netwerk

Alliance members had $89.3bn in expansion projects, 2014–2030.

Recycling Netwerk (via Humusz)

How it looked

What was shown, beside what was recorded.

Shown

  • A pledge of $1.5 billion over five years and a goal of 15 million tonnes
    Alliance to End Plastic Waste, at launch
  • 378,147 t "reduced", 418,529 t "valorised" and $641m "catalysed" from third parties, cumulative to 2025
    Alliance to End Plastic Waste, 2025 progress report · Alliance to End Plastic Waste (via AAP / Cision)

Recorded

  • Renew Oceans (Ganges, Varanasi) collected less than 1 t (reported also as about 1 t) against targets of 45 t in 2019 and 450 t in 2020, and closed in March 2020.
    Packaging Insights
  • Unearthed reported that the Alliance had provided $375m and 119,000 t had been collected, while five member companies produced 132 Mt of polyethylene and polypropylene over 2019–2023.
    Nation of Change
  • The Alliance called its 15 Mt goal "too ambitious".
    Nation of Change
  • Alliance 2024 report: 239,985 t diverted and 253,212 t recovered since 2019.
  • Alliance 2025 progress report (September 2026): 378,147 t reduced, 418,529 t valorised, $641m catalysed from third parties; priority countries Brazil, Saudi Arabia, India, Indonesia and South Africa; $40m for Indonesia.
    Alliance to End Plastic Waste (via AAP / Cision)
  • Planet Tracker (September 2022): the Alliance had reached less than 1% of its target in its first three years.
    KnowESG
  • Planet Tracker: the $1.5bn compares with about $400bn planned industry-wide for new plastic capacity.
    Planet Tracker
  • Recycling Netwerk: $89.3bn in expansion projects by Alliance members, 2014–2030.
    Recycling Netwerk (via Humusz)
  • Packaging Insights (10 February 2023) reported about 34,000 t in the first four years, 2019–2022.

Who gained

Money that reached nature, beside money that stayed elsewhere.

Reached nature or the ground

Not published
No figure published.

Gained elsewhere

Not totalled
Currency: USD · Window: 2019–2023. All figures cover the same period. * Estimate built from cited figures.

Responses on record

  • Alliance to End Plastic Waste (October 2020): Described the end of Renew Oceans as a "mutual termination" and cited COVID-19.
  • Alliance to End Plastic Waste (November 2024): Called its 15 Mt goal "too ambitious". · Nation of Change
  • Alliance to End Plastic Waste (2026-09-08): Its 2025 progress report counted 378,147 t reduced, 418,529 t valorised and $641m catalysed from third parties. · Alliance to End Plastic Waste (via AAP / Cision)

In court and with insurers

Every proceeding and every insurer decision on record.

Lawsuits and rulings

No court case on record. No court has ruled on this case.

Insurers

No insurer decision on record.

What nature saw

Outcomes measured on the ground, and nature's note.

Nature's report opens this page. Below: further outcomes measured on the ground.

Plastic collected by Renew Oceans (Ganges)
Under 1 t
Against targets of 45 t (2019) and 450 t (2020); project closed March 2020
Plastic collected vs produced by five members
119,000 t vs 132 Mt
Unearthed, 2019–2023; production data from Wood Mackenzie
Alliance-reported reduction as a share of the 15 Mt goal
About 2.5%
378,147 t (Alliance 2025 report, cumulative to 2025) ÷ 15 Mt. Estimate; the period runs beyond the five-year target window

What we don't know

Undisclosed, unproven, untried: recorded as data.

Nature

  • Not measured Harm to nature: The record holds no measurement of harm to nature.
  • Disputed How much plastic has the Alliance removed or prevented?
  • Disputed Why did the Ganges project end after collecting under one tonne?

Accounts

  • Disputed Is the Alliance's funding proportionate to the scale of industry plastic production?

Record

  • None on record The Alliance's actual spend by its own accounts was not found; the $375m figure is as reported by Unearthed.
  • Disputed The Alliance's cumulative figures ("diverted", "recovered", "reduced", "valorised") and Unearthed's figure ("collected") use different terms and are not reconciled in the record.
  • None on record Renew Oceans collected "less than 1 t" in one account and "about 1 t" in another.

Did the harm stop?

Not established in the record. Renew Oceans closed in March 2020; the Alliance continues to publish progress reports (most recently September 2026).

Who paid?

Not documented in the record; Unearthed reported $375m provided by the Alliance over its first five years.

Sources

Voices on record: ✓ Company or project— Government and regulators— Courts✓ Press and investigations✓ Communities and civil society— Researchers

Company or project

  1. Alliance to End Plastic Waste releases 2025 Progress Report
    Alliance to End Plastic Waste (via AAP / Cision) · 2026-09-08

Press and investigations

Communities and civil society

  2. Over $89 billion in plastic expansion projects
    Recycling Netwerk (via Humusz) · 2022

Connected cases

Related matters, and cases linked to this one through the same organisations, with the role each played in both.
Terms used on this page

Law and courts

Arbitration
A private dispute process in which an appointed arbitrator, instead of a court, decides the case.
Plea
In a criminal case, the defendant's formal answer to a charge. A plea agreement settles a case with a guilty plea on agreed terms.
Punitive damages
Money a court orders a defendant to pay to punish especially reckless conduct, on top of compensation for losses. Mainly used in US courts.

Science and environment

Hectare (ha)
A unit of area equal to 10,000 square metres, about 2.5 acres. 100 hectares make one square kilometre.

Insurance

Underwriter
An insurer, or a person at an insurer, who assesses a risk and decides whether and on what terms to insure it.
Similar cases
Plastic waste and recycling claims · Water use · International waters · 2013–2025
Great Pacific Garbage Patch and The Ocean Cleanup
Same type: Plastic waste and recycling claims, Water useHarm to nature disputedHarm to nature not measured
Mining / tailings dam · Chemical pollution · Water use · Indonesia · 2020–2026
IMIP nickel waste landslides and Obi island (Indonesia)
Same type: Water useSame countryHarm to nature disputed
Plastic waste and recycling claims · Philippines · 2022–2025
Verra plastic credits
Same type: Plastic waste and recycling claimsSame countryHarm to nature disputed
Plastic waste and recycling claims · Global · 2017–2025
Plastic Bank and rePurpose collector schemes
Same type: Plastic waste and recycling claimsSame countryHarm to nature disputed
Data centre · Water use · Malaysia / Indonesia / Singapore · 2019–2026
Johor and Batam data centres for Singapore
Same type: Water useSame countryHarm to nature disputed
Urban greening and displacement · Protected area / relocation · Water use · India · 2015–2024
Chennai water-body restoration evictions and Perumbakkam resettlement
Same type: Water useSame countryHarm to nature disputed