World agreement vital on plastics as the scale of plastic production and its threat to public health and the environment
was underlined once more earlier this week (Monday) when a new report warned that the world is in a “plastics crisis” which is causing disease and death from infancy to old age and is responsible for at least $1.5tn (£1.1tn) a year in health-related damages.
That’s why delegates from more than 170 countries at the UN plastic pollution treaty talks in Geneva must secure an ambitious global agreement, campaigners believe, despite a World agreement vital on plastics.
In 2022, countries agreed to develop a legally binding global treaty to cut the waste and the harmful chemicals some plastics contain – but after two years no agreement has been reached.
Globally only 9% of plastic produced is recycled, and Prof Richard Thompson, head of the international litter research unit at Plymouth University whose work directly led to the ban on microbeads in cosmetic products in the UK, said the evidence showed that plastic production needed to be reduced to tackle plastic pollution. He said a treaty needed to ensure only plastic that was essential to society was produced, the thousands of chemicals used in plastic were reduced, and that all the plastic produced in future was sustainable, which involved moving to reuse and a circular economy in plastic.
Graham Forbes, Greenpeace’s head of delegation to the treaty negotiations, said the science, the moral imperative and the economics were clear. “Uncontrolled plastic production is a death sentence. The only way to end plastic pollution is to stop
making so much plastic. “World leaders must seize the opportunity in Geneva, stand up to the fossil fuel industry and take humanity’s first step towards ending the plastics crisis and create a healthier, safer future for all.”
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