The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) is urging governments to ban and phase out the “most high-risk and unnecessary’ single-use plastic products, such as plastic cutlery, e-cigarettes, and microplastics in cosmetics, ahead of the UN’s plastic pollution treaty talks in Paris from 29 May to 02 June 2023.
WWF and Eunomia released a series of publications on Monday, 15 May, to identify the most harmful plastic goods contributing to environmental pollution and propose global control measures to eliminate, minimise, or safely manage and circulate the publications. WWF wants these elements in the treaty before the December 2023 discussions.
This study addresses the most pressing plastic pollution issues under the new global treaty by categorising plastic products into those that can be reduced or eliminated soon (Class I) and those that cannot but require global control measures to promote recycling and responsible management and disposal (Class II).
WWF believes worldwide regulation will be more successful if plastics are grouped by pollution risk rather than trying to legislate for specific plastic objects, which can be difficult and allow loopholes.
WWF special envoy Marco Lambertini said that, “we are locked into a system where we are now producing quantities of plastic well beyond what any country can properly deal with”.
This is triggering a global plastic pollution catastrophe that harms the environment and society.
Waiting will just make the problem worse. If we continue on this course, by 2040, plastic pollution will double, plastic leakage will triple, and global plastic manufacturing will double.
Plastic is cheap and has various uses, but roughly half of it is used to produce disposable objects that take hundreds of years to disintegrate and are mostly used in high- and upper-middle-income countries.
According to recent surveys, by 2015, 60% of all plastics were used and discarded with only 10% of plastics recycled worldwide.
Lambertini goes on to list countries that have banned plastic bags, straws and stirrers, cosmetic microbeads, and single-use food and beverage items. This won't suffice.
We need large-scale efforts led by internationally accepted principles to level the playing field for all nations and industries. It’s 2023. Disposable plastics harm streams, smother oceans, and even enter our food chain, therefore there is no reason to use them worldwide.
The sector has several cutting-edge instruments to manufacture greener alternatives. This transformation requires regulation and incentives for sustainable innovation and trade.
Leaked plastic can travel hundreds or thousands of kilometres before being noticed, despite national legislation and volunteer actions. Single-use plastics, microplastics, and "ghost fishing gear" cause most ocean plastic pollution.
WWF plastics policy coordinator for Africa, Zaynab Sadan explained that, "many governments can't afford collection services and many communities lack the infrastructure to deal with this deluge of plastic waste."
“As a result, communities are left to manage the waste on their own”, which can harm their health.
The accord must identify and include informal waste pickers to create a more equitable and circular economy.
Eliminating high-risk and unnecessary single-use plastics.
The Paris conference offers a once-in-a-generation opportunity to propose global initiatives that could move us away from the single-use attitude that is feeding the twin nature and climate issues.
After a strong start at last year's initial Intergovernmental Negotiation Committee summit, negotiators must complete the treaty text to best address plastic pollution.
IOL Environment