In what’s being called “hope for a better planet on #WorldEnvironmentDay,” a United Nations report published Tuesday found “surging momentum in global efforts” to eradicate single-use plastics while also warning that poor enforcement is hindering regulations and bans worldwide.
“Our oceans have been used as a dumping ground, choking marine life and transforming some marine areas into a plastic soup. In cities around the world, plastic waste clogsdrains, causing floods and breeding disease. Consumed by livestock, it also finds its way into the food chain.”
—Erik Solheim, UNEP
Single-Use Plastics: A Roadmap to Sustainability (pdf) details “what has worked well, what hasn’t, and why” in terms of regulating plastic. The report was released by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) as part of a global effort on Tuesday to raise awareness about initiatives to #BeatPlasticPollution.
Plastic pollution has become “one of our planet’s greatest environmental challenges,” Erik Solheim, head of UNEP, wrote in the introduction of the report, the first comprehensive review of efforts in more than 60 countries to address the crisis.
“Our oceans have been used as a dumping ground, choking marine life and transforming some marine areas into a plastic soup,” Solheim continued, detailing the scope of the issue. “In cities around the world, plastic waste clogsdrains, causing floods and breeding disease. Consumed by livestock, it also finds its way into the food chain.”
Just last week, a pilot whale died just off the coast of Thailand. “A necropsy revealed that more than 17 pounds of plastic had clogged up the whale’s stomach, making it impossible for it to ingest nutritional food. This waste was in the form of 80 shopping bags and other plastic debris,” reported National Geographic.
“Governments need to improve waste management practices and introduce financial incentives to change the habits of consumers, retailers, and manufacturers, enacting strong policies that push for a more circular model of design and production of plastics,” the report states. “They must finance more research and development of alternative materials, raise awareness among consumers, fund innovation, ensure plastic products are properly labeled, and carefully weigh possible solutions to the current crisis.”
U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres issued a call to action on Tuesday, noting that “microplastics in the seas now outnumber stars in our galaxy,” and warning that “if present trends continue, by 2050 our oceans will have more plastic than fish.”
Pointing to the example that “plastic bag bans, if properly planned and enforced, can effectively counter one of the causes of plastic overuse,” the report features a 10-step roadmap for governments to improve current measures and implement new ones:
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by conducting a baseline assessment to identify the most problematic single-use plastics, as well as the current causes, extent and impacts of their mismanagement.
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(e.g. through regulatory, economic, awareness, voluntary actions), given the country’s socio-economic standing and considering their appropriateness in addressing the specific problems identified.
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