What is World Environment Day 2025?
This year’s World Environmental Day is set to take place on the 5th of June, hosted by the The Republic of Korea and two months before negotiations continue on a global treaty to end plastic pollution. The timing is also significant from a UK context, with Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) having been introduced this year and as we await the implementation of a Deposit Return Scheme in October 2027. These measures incentivise recycling, the reduction of packaging and increase recyclability.
Where do SocEnv fit in?
Society for The Environment (SocEnv) is a champion of World Environment Day in the UK and beyond. SocEnv has an interdisciplinary reach, bringing together cross-sector professionals to raise awareness and drive real change.
What is the 2025 World Environment Day theme?
The theme chosen for this World Environmental Day is ending plastic pollution.
Join the conversation on social media using #WorldEnvironmentDay and #BeatPlasticPollution.
So, why is this year’s theme important?
According to the UN Environment Programme, the world produces more than 430 million tonnes of plastic annually, two-thirds of which are short-lived products that soon become waste, filling the ocean and, often, working their way into the human food chain (source).
To explain more about why this year’s theme is so important and what solutions are already being implemented to address plastic pollution, we asked the experts, experienced in delivery – Chartered Environmentalists.
Chartered Environmentalist (CEnv) status is achieved through the dedication and expertise of an environmental professional from their respective field. The sectors represented range from: water, engineering, energy, agriculture, environmental management, built environment, forestry, fisheries, resource management, sciences, arboriculture, and land management. This ‘gold standard’ status sets CEnv apart from others working in their field so they can lead the way.
Read on to discover more and how you can get involved.
Photo above: Jeju, Korea Republic (World Environment Day 2025 host). Credit: UNEP/ Artan Jama
CEnv insights: the challenge and solutions across disciplines
Forestry/ woodlands – Liz Nicholson CEnv, Managing Director at Nicholsons:
“The most frustrating part of my job is the uncomfortable truth that we need to use plastic guards to establish woodland at scale. Many parts of Britain are overrun by deer, which, without tree guards, will graze young trees to a catastrophic level – compromising biodiversity gain and climate resilience.
Nicholsons and the Forest Canopy Foundation – underpinned by extensive research with the Forestry Commission – have evaluated most of the known alternative guards described as ‘biodegradable’. The results not only show a high degree of variability in quality and effectiveness, but deeper research demonstrates that we don’t know the true properties of biodegradability in these products, which, in turn, could cause greater environmental damage.
Another alternative is to cull our deer population down to a sustainable level for tree establishment without guards, or indeed deer fencing – the largest emissions category in our contracting business. But government policy would need to change.
For now, the advice is clear; we are best to use plastic – collect it at the end of a seven-year use and recycle it. That end of use stage is the key to helping the ‘end plastic pollution’ goal. Each alternative provides a different environmental challenge to weigh up. Sometimes the best choice for environmental protection isn’t black and white.”
Marine – Olivia Wells CEnv, Sustainability Manager, Marella Cruises:
“Plastic has a purpose in modern life, yet plastic pollution is one of the greatest environmental threats of our time – impacting both human and ecosystem health, with lingering uncertainty around the true extent of damage it causes. This is particularly the case for microplastics – where synthetic fibres from laundry, account for the largest source of primary microplastics in our oceans.
At Marella Cruises, we have teamed up with the Cleaner Seas Group to design groundbreaking technology to capture micro-fibre plastics from onboard laundry systems. After several trials and analysis, the range of filters are shown to capture 99% of fibres, with an estimated capture of up to 500kg microfibres per ship, per year.
The partnership with Cleaner Seas Group also includes a bespoke Return and Recycle scheme, returning the filter, recycling the micro-fibres collected, and reusing the cleaned filter. The rollout is now underway, and the hope, as a Chartered Environmentalist, is to inspire other cruise lines to follow in the adoption of these filters. We also strive for new regulation in the marine sector to consider and recognise micro-fibre plastics as a source of pollution to be monitored and controlled.”
Recycling and resource management – Adam Read CEnv, Chief External Affairs and Sustainability Officer, SUEZ recycling and recovery UK:
“Waste is becoming an anachronism in a world that is rapidly consuming natural resources and at SUEZ our mission is not to provide an endpoint for items at the conclusion of their lifecycle, but a waystation that pushes them back into use, either through repair, re-use or, as a last resort, recycling.
Only about 9% of plastic is recycled globally and even in the UK where we manage to recycle 37%, there is still a huge amount of work to be done. I see my role at SUEZ – and as a Chartered Environmentalist – as one which works to ensure we are constantly improving the efficacy of our role as a failsafe mechanism by improving the methods we use to capture, repurpose, or recycle plastic. Enhanced local collection – including wider plastic acceptance and source separation – forms the first crucial barrier.
Investing in advanced domestic sorting technologies, like AI-powered systems, acts as a vital second net, capturing more recyclable plastics with greater accuracy and reducing contamination. And of course, we invest in educating against single use plastic, as well as working closely with policy makers to influence better statutory support for re-use and the circular economy.
For further information about Suez’s work, head to our website.”
Education and behavioural change – Luke Douglas-Home CEnv, Managing Director, A Future without Rubbish:
“Plastic pollution is not just a litter issue — it is a systemic failure. It stems from poor education, weak accountability, inadequate ‘binfrastructure’, and the lack of a real circular economy. Ending it will require an overhaul of our design systems, a culture of transparency in material use and disposal, better education, and meaningful investment in ‘binfrastructure’ and signage.
That’s why, at A Future without Rubbish, we educate, advocate, and act. Because if we all saw our environment as part of ourselves — not something separate— we would nurture it, protect it, and defend it. After all, it sustains all of us: from the food we eat and the air we breathe. It is us, and we are it.
To find out more about the work of A Future without Rubbish, keep an eye on the SocEnv channels in the lead-up to World Environment Day on the 5th June.”
How you can get involved
Some ideas…
- Hold an event around World Environment Day (making sure to register it online to spread the word).
- Book your ticket to our flagship event on 4th June, featuring a special World Environment Day themed panel discussion.
- Share good practice on LinkedIn, remember to using the hashtag #BeatPlasticPollution and tagging us @society-for-the-environment
