In a commentary article published on October 17, 2023, in the journal The Lancet, Philip Landrigan and three co-authors from the Australia-based Minderoo Foundation provide reasons for why they support the establishment of a global plastic treaty.
As a core provision of the United Nations (UN) global treaty to end plastic pollution (FPF reported), the authors call for a mandatory global cap on plastic production since limiting supply directly tackles the source of the pollution. Downstream approaches such as recycling are less efficient, ineffective, and not safe for applications such as food packaging (FPF reported) according to scientists, physicians, and health workers. National limits on the production of single-use plastics is another key provision in their proposal, for the same reason. Downstream, Landrigan et al. argue, that the treaty should ban plastic combustion and include extended producer responsibility (EPR) schemes. EPR programs already exist in some parts of the world (FPF reported) where they promote reusable plastics production (FPF reported) and support the transition to a circular economy.
Concerning chemicals, Landrigan and co-authors call for the full disclosure, traceability, and premarket toxicity testing of all plastic chemicals which would only be possible through “a paradigm shift in chemical policies.” Other scientists have also stressed the importance of integrating all chemicals contained in plastics as part of the global plastics treaty (FPF reported). Roughly 13,000 chemicals have been associated with plastics or their production, including 3,200 of potential concern (FPF reported). Just recently, Minderoo published a report and an interactive Plastic Health Map to outline the potential health effects of human exposure to micro- and nanoplastics and chemicals associated with plastics (FPF reported).
From an organizational point of view, the authors emphasize that for the treaty to be just and protective, its negotiation committee needs to include representatives of vulnerable populations, such as indigenous people, pregnant women, and people living close to plastic industries. “The global plastics treaty will require proper governance. It must avoid the trap of decision making by consensus in which one nation can hold the world hostage, and allow instead for implementation by countries that endorse the treaty through non-party trade provisions.” An independent body of international scientists should guide the treaty’s implementation, Landrigan and co-authors clarified.
In November 2023, the intergovernmental negotiating committee will convene for the third time with the intent to draft a global plastics treaty by the end of 2024. The Zero Draft text published by the UN in September is designed to guide the discussions ahead (FPF reported).
Reference
Landrigan et al. (October 17, 2023) “The global plastics treaty: why is it needed?” The Lancet
