January 16, 2017: Forty of the world’s biggest companies agreed Monday find sustainable ways to make and consume plastic as the waste threatens the globe’s eco-systems, especially oceans, said international media reporting on the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

The planet’s dangerously polluted oceans will contain more plastic waste than fish by 2050 if urgent action isn’t taken, the companies warned. Organizers of the forum said 20 percent of the world’s plastic production could be profitably re-used and a further 50 percent recycled instead of infesting landfills and killing wildlife in the ocean.

But even then, “without fundamental redesign and innovation, the remaining 30 percent of plastic packaging (by weight) will never be recycled and the equivalent of 10 billion garbage bags per year will be destined to landfill or incineration,” said a statement from the forum.

An initiative led by British sailor and philanthropist Ellen MacArthur to increase recycling and cut back overall plastics use is being taken up by multinationals such as Unilever and Procter and Gamble.

Food-to-detergents giant Unilever said it would ensure that all of its plastic packaging “is fully reusable, recyclable or compostable by 2025,” said reports.

“The ‘New Plastics Economy’ initiative has attracted widespread support, and across the industry we are seeing strong initial momentum and alignment on the direction to take,” said MacArthur, who is a regular Davos participant along with celebrities such as Matt Damon.

Other companies backing the initiative include Coca-Cola, Danone and Dow Chemical.

“Plastics are the workhorse material of the modern economy -– with unbeaten properties,” said Martin Stuchtey, a professor for resource management at Innsbruck University in Austria who is working on the programme.

“Minor changes in material, format and treatment … can make the economics of recycling viable and take us into a positive spiral of … lower costs and better design,” he said.