Source: World Economic Forum
To end plastic pollution by 2040, we need to involve everyone along the plastics value chain.
图片来源：Getty Images/iStockphoto
Gist:
- The United Nations plans to develop a legally binding agreement on plastic pollution by 2025, which will be a big win for people and the planet. The United Nations has only one year left to make it happen.
- An international treaty that aims to end plastic pollution by 2040 could have an important impact, similar to the Paris Agreement's 2°C target role in tackling the climate crisis.
- A new study outlines multiple ways to address waste growth and explains why collaboration is key to developing an effective plastics action plan.
The United Nations has only one year left to develop an international treaty to end plastic pollution. Tackling plastic pollution once and for all would be a huge victory for the planet and humanity.
If we don't intervene, the world will have a 3.5-kilometre mountain of plastic waste, enough to bury the entire island of Manhattan.
More than 60 countries, including the UAE and the Solomon Islands, have taken an exciting step by pledging to develop a treaty ambitious enough to end plastic pollution by 2040. The United States, among many other countries, have made similar commitments to help achieve this goal.
If the current situation continues, a total of 3.2 billion tonnes of plastic waste will be generated globally by 2050.
Image credit: University of California, Berkeley and Santa Barbara
The ambitious goal of ending plastic pollution by 2040 will have a significant impact on tackling the plastic crisis, similar to the Paris Agreement's 2°C target in tackling the climate crisis.
The scientific community has been confronted with a critical and thorny question of how to end plastic pollution in less than two decades. Plastic pollution is complex and massive at both the national and international levels.
There are many ways to end plastic pollution
A joint study by the University of California, Berkeley, and Santa Barbara found that there is a realistic, if not multiple, path to ending plastic pollution at the international level through an international treaty.
Researchers have used artificial intelligence to predict how different treaty policies will work together to reduce plastic pollution. They found that just nine policies could reduce plastic pollution by 89% by 2040 by just nine policies included in the treaty.
The impact of a few specific policies is particularly significant, contributing to the creation of a waste-free future. For example, requiring new plastic products to contain at least 30% recycled plastic could reduce plastic pollution by 29%.
The UN Plastics Treaty requires all new plastic products to contain at least 30% recycled plastic. By 2050, this provision will reduce plastic pollution by about 29% per year.
Image credit: University of California, Berkeley and Santa Barbara
If we limit non-essential plastic production in the same way we limit greenhouse gas emissions, we can reduce plastic pollution by 26%.
Other influential policies include selling plastic products to invest in recycling and waste management infrastructure, prohibiting the casual use of single-use plastic products such as plastic bags and boxes.
As with climate change, a strong UN plastic pollution treaty can only work if it is implemented at the national level, which requires national leadership and action. Collaborative action is essential to identify national needs and develop a national-level plastics action plan.
We need everyone along the plastics value chain to be involved, including producers, users and recyclers.
An inclusive approach to tackling plastic pollution
To ensure that no one is left behind in the transformation decision-making process, an evidence-based approach and an inclusive strategy are essential. Many countries and regions, such as Ghana, are actively moving towards a circular plastics economy.
Ghana has used the National Analysis and Modelling (NAM) tool developed by the Global Plastics Action Partnership (GPAP) to comprehensively assess the current flow of plastics in the environment.
This evidence-based data provides policymakers with the insights they need to develop national plans. The national plan serves as a guiding framework for governments to translate commitments into action and prepare to implement the ambitious global plastics treaty.
The Global Plastics Action Partnership is implemented through the existing 13 National Plastics Action Partnerships (NPAPs) and is developing additional partners to expand its impact in different regions.
In addition to data, the transition from a plastics economy to a circular economy must adopt a holistic, gender-based and inclusive approach. Inclusive strategies are key to engaging all community stakeholders, especially women and other underrepresented groups.
Only through this approach can we ensure that well-informed and comprehensive decisions are made that promote collaborative action to bring about systemic change.
Countries around the world will meet again in Canada in April 2024 to push for a global plastic pollution treaty. So far, progress has been relatively slow.
Still, there is hope that the world will not miss this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to take joint action at the international and national levels to end plastic pollution.