Negotiations Begin for UN’s Landmark Treaty on Plastics Pollution

What’s the story?

• On Nov. 28, 175 nations started negotiations for a legally binding international treaty on plastic pollution. This comes nearly 30 years after researchers started warning leaders of the threat that global plastics production places on the environment. 
• The nations agreed to the treaty in March during a session of the United Nations Environment Assembly in Nairobi. 
• The Nairobi resolution calls for multiple full-life-cycle assessments on plastics, a method used to evaluate the environmental impact of a product throughout its entire lifespan. The agreement will bind countries to action plans at the national, regional, and international levels to work towards preventing, reducing, and eliminating plastic pollution. 
• Treaty negotiations are expected to take two to three years. UN secretary-general António Guterres proclaimed this treaty “the most important deal since the Paris Agreement.”

What will the negotiations determine? 

• Negotiators are drumming up a team of scientists to help address critical plastic pollution questions. These teams will help the nations determine which types of plastics can be recycled, which can be biodegradable, and which offer the best chances for reuse. 
• Experts will use social science research to understand people's relationship with plastics in daily life, allowing the nations to adopt the most realistic solutions for their communities. 
• Learning about the role of plastics will help leaders mold their workforce and economy so that people’s livelihoods won’t be threatened by the elimination of the plastic industry.

What is research saying?

• Researchers have been trying to initiate action on plastic pollution for decades. The community has become especially vocal in the past few years as studies show a correlation between human health effects and plastic pollution. Researchers have even discovered that microplastics are making their way into the human body — blood, excrement, cadaver autopsy samples, and even deep in the lungs of living humans. 
• The sharp increase in plastic production, dubbed “the plastic wave,” started in 1950 and shows no sign of decline. Between 1950 and 2017, the industry produced 9.2 billion tons of non-recyclable plastics, more than half of which were made in this millennium. Nearly 80% of that waste is in a landfill or the natural environment, while 8% was recycled, and less than 33% is still in use. 

• Experts and advocates are fighting against the lack of transparency, greenwashing, and the misinformation spread by the plastic industry, hoping to bring this to light during the negotiations. 

Do you want your country to take action against plastic pollution? 

-Jamie Epstein

(Photo credit: iStock/Mario De Moya F)