Can We End Global Plastic Pollution in 20 Years?
(Click here to read our background essay on plastic)
On November 23, 2022 the World Wildlife Fund posted a news release reporting that a survey of over 30,000 people in 34 countries showed that 7 out of 10 people support binding global rules to end plastic pollution. Only 14% favored voluntary efforts, and almost 8 out of 10 wanted to hold producers responsible.
The Plastic Soup Foundation maintains a map of plastic bans around the world. It is heartening that there have been such efforts, yet they are clearly insufficient. There is nothing wrong with local bans on such items as plastic bags, straws or utensils, but this problem is both immense and global. It can only be addressed effectively with international agreements.
On November 24, 2022 the European Union (EU) announced that it joined the High Ambition Coalition To End Plastic Pollution. This group wants to end plastic pollution by 2040. The High Ambition Coalition is an international effort co-chaired by Norway and Rwanda. The United States is not a member.
The EU’s goal in joining their efforts is to have a “legally binding instrument ensuring urgent action, while applying a circular approach to plastics. A new treaty is being negotiated and they hope to complete the process by 2025.
The United Nations Environment Assembly resolution in March 2022 is also in negotiations for a legally binding international effort to end plastic pollution. In August 2022 the United Nations Environmental Investigations Agency (EIA) commented on High Ambition Coalition’s goals to end plastic pollution vis-à-vis their own efforts to secure a treaty about plastic. Their Ocean Campaign leader, Christina Dixon, commented that in the policy world “nothing is agreed until everything is agreed.”
Christina Dixon wrote:
“EIA welcomes the key strategic goals of the Coalition, in particular the recognition of a circular economy which is protective of human health.
…while the mandate allows for negotiations to look at the full plastics lifecycle and plastic pollution in all environments, ambitious countries must rally together to ensure the eventual agreement is fit for purpose and that any attempts to water down the most essential elements are thwarted…
attention to measures on plastic production, such as reporting on production – both quantities and composition – with targets to cap and phase down production, will be essential. As the saying goes, we can’t mop the floor without turning off the tap first…
we urge the Coalition to ensure a definition of environmentally sound management and recycling that does not lock us into false solutions, such as chemical recycling and incineration, and which promotes safe and non-toxic circularity that is protective of not just the environment, but health and communities…
The launch of the High Ambition Coalition is a welcome clarion call for countries wishing to set their sights on achieving a truly ambitious plastics treaty – we hope to see others join this group and kickstart collaborations to flesh out an agreement which will end plastic pollution.”
Although the United States has not signed on to these international efforts, there are sweeping legislative efforts in the United States on the federal level. Since the United States is major contributor to plastic pollution, this is not insignificant.
On the federal level in the United States:
A bill was just submitted (November 28, 2022) to the United States House of Representatives to require the Environmental Protection Agency to protect communities from plastic, called appropriately the Protecting Communities from Plastics Act. This was sponsored by Representative Jared Huffman and Senators Corey Booker and Jeff Merkley. You can find the full text and cosponsors here as well.
Senator Merkley, one of the sponsors of the Break Free From Plastic Act of 2021-2022 has just put up information on his website about it. You can read about the proposed legislation with clear summary infographics from the website Break Free From Plastic.
Actions:
There is a long way to go in these overlapping international and national efforts, but they provide a glimmer of hope. We need to pay attention and support these efforts, encouraging our leaders and governments to take part and not succumb to the lobbying efforts to water down any agreements that are sure to come.
If you are a citizen of the United States you can contact your representatives to support the congressional legislative efforts in several ways:
1. You can find contact information on this website to call or write your representative. Ask them to support the bill or thank cosponsors.
2. You can go through the organization Break Free from Plastic.
3. You can go through the congress.gov site.
