In a bid to reduce plastic pollution, over 40 companies in the U.K. have signed a pact promising to do so over the course of the next seven years.

Joining together with governments, campaigners and trade associations, companies such as Coca-Cola, Asda, Procter & Gamble and Marks & Spencer have formed the U.K. Plastics Pact.

Considering that many of the participating companies are responsible for over 80 percent of the plastic packaging on products sold throughout grocery stores in the U.K., participating companies are vowing to take some of the following measures:

• Attempt to make all plastic packaging for products recyclable, reusable or compostable.
• Eradicate single-use plastic packing by way of improved design.

The initiative, which is being led by sustainability advocate WRAP, is believed to offer a "once-in-a lifetime opportunity” to reconsider how plastic impacts the environment.

According to WRAP's chief executive Marcus Gover: "This requires a whole scale transformation of the plastics system and can only be achieved by bringing together all links in the chain under a shared commitment to act. That is what makes the U.K. Plastics Pact unique. It unites every body, business and organization with a will to act on plastic pollution. We will never have a better time to act, and together we can."