Apologies for the click bait headline, but what really caught our attention this month was the call for a global treaty to end production of ‘virgin’ plastic by 2040. The original article in Science Magazine is co-authored by fourteen scientists from respected institutions across the world who are calling for a binding global agreement to address the life cycle of plastics, including the production of new (virgin) plastic. Here’s a brief synopsis and link:
“Amid the global plastic pollution crisis, a growing number of governments and nongovernmental actors are proposing a new global treaty. In February 2021, at the fifth meeting of the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA)—the world’s highest-level decision-making body on the environment—many governments spoke in favor of an international agreement to combat plastic pollution. In the past, the international community tended to view the plastics problem from a predominantly ocean-focused and waste-centered perspective. However, plastics are increasingly found in all environmental media, including terrestrial ecosystems and the atmosphere, as well as human matrices, including lungs and placenta. We therefore argue for a new international legally binding agreement that addresses the entire life cycle of plastics, from extraction of raw materials to legacy plastic pollution. Only by taking this approach can efforts match the magnitude and transboundary nature of this escalating problem and its social, environmental, and economic impacts. Targeting the full life cycle of plastics allows for a more equitable distribution of the costs and benefits of relevant actions across the global value chain.”
After years in the wilderness, it’s nice to know the scientific community is backing us up in our endeavours to eradicate virgin plastic from the world.
Now all we need is for politicians and global business leaders to agree that plastic is a serious environmental threat and set the date!
