Creating a Global Package to Solve the Problem of Plastics

according to The United Nations says plastic production has surged from 2 million tons in 1950 to about Will reach 400 million in 2024. This number is expected to triple by 2060. The rest will remain in our environment for centuries, polluting the planet from oceans to mountains, contaminating the food chain and human body, and potentially damaging our organs and brains.

In 2025, we will start eliminating plastic pollution. UN policymakers representing more than 170 countries have been negotiating a legally binding agreement since 2022 Global Plastics Treaty Addressing the entire life cycle of plastics, from design to production to disposal. The Treaty shares many of the mechanisms present in the Convention. Montreal Protocol of 1987ultimately leading to the phase-out of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), chemicals that contribute to ozone layer depletion. So it can succeed despite opposition.

The treaty will be finalized at the fifth and final conference in Busan, South Korea, at the end of November 2024. Negotiations become polarized. As of this writing, the draft treaty includes two options for its overall goal: the first is more ambitious and aims to “end plastic pollution”; the second goal, on the other hand, is to “protect human health and the environment from plastic pollution”. Plastic pollution”.

The first option is supported by a number of countries, which are Ambitious coalition to end plastic pollutionLed by Northern Europe, but also including countries such as Rwanda and Peru. Major oil producers such as Saudi Arabia prefer the second option, hoping to shift the focus of discussions toward plastic recycling and waste management rather than its production. In August 2024, the United States, which is also a major plastic and oil producer, announced a surprising policy shift and pledged to support restrictions on plastic production. This new position would affect the treaty, given the influence of the Americans.

Agreeing on option one would put us on a path very similar to that followed by the Montreal Protocol. While the treaty is currently unlikely to set specific binding targets for the gradual reduction of plastic production, it is undeniable that it will set ambitious goals for ending plastic pollution. Option two (“protect human health and the environment”), on the other hand, is a very vague goal, in part because we don’t actually know for sure what the threshold for human health effects is, and we probably won’t know for a long time.

Regardless, both options are a step forward. Both provide necessary guidance for the plastics industry to develop better technologies. For example, Option 1 would incentivize companies to develop alternatives, such as fully biodegradable and compostable materials, aiming to eventually replace plastics (especially single-use plastics, such as shopping bags and plastic packaging, which account for 35% of today’s plastic use) . Option two could push the industry to develop more effective ways to reduce the waste stream, such as improving recycling processes.

This technical guidance is perhaps the most important aspect of the treaty. For example, the original 1987 Montreal Protocol set very conservative phase-down targets for reducing CFC production: a 20% reduction by 1994, and then a 50% reduction by 1998. Solve the problem by saying it’s too slow. But crucially, the agreement also makes clear that these goals will be revisited as new science and alternative technologies emerge. As companies compete to develop better products, this puts pressure on industry to develop technology solutions. Eventually, these alternatives—such as hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), which could be used in refrigeration while having a much smaller impact on the ozone layer—developed much faster than expected, so much so that just three years later, countries met again Agreed to phase out hydrofluorocarbons.

In 2025, the Global Plastics Pact will send a clear message to the plastics industry that it must change the way it does business. This will be the beginning of the end for plastic.