Forging a Future Without Waste in the Great Lakes
Circular Great Lakes will be the catalyst for identifying the transformational projects, forming the partnerships, and mobilizing the public-private sector investments required to ensure valuable materials never become waste or pollution in this region, North America’s economic engine, starting with plastics.
Our Region
THE BINATIONAL GREAT LAKES MEGA-REGION
An economic powerhouse.
Home to 108 million people, Great Lakes economic region, with its deeply integrated sectors and supply chains, is an engine of economic activity in North America, fueling the competitiveness and prosperity of the United States and Canada, as well as commerce between both countries.
A globally significant resource.
With about 21% of the world's surface freshwater, this vital resource sustains life for thousands of species and millions of people that live near the shores of this inland sea.
Our Emerging Problem
Circular Great Lakes, a binational, collaborative initiative of the Council of the Great Lakes Region, seeks to end plastic waste by closing the loop and accelerating a circular economy for plastics across the region.
Photography and editing by Michael Courier, with music by Sergey Cheremisinov.
Too much waste.
It is estimated that 81% of the Great Lakes post-consumer waste is lost to landfills, including valuable materials like plastic according to a recent report from the US Chamber of Commerce Foundation.
A new pollution problem.
An estimated 22 million pounds (10,000 tonnes) of plastic pollution could be entering the Great Lakes every year from the U.S. and Canada according to models developed by the Rochester Institute of Technology.
Our Solution
Forging a future without waste—starting with plastics.
Collaborating with a diverse group of partners, we have an opportunity to unite and act with purpose in designing and investing in a sustainable, circular Great Lakes economy.