The world needs a comprehensive plastics policy for a clean future

Our planet is full of plastic. This ubiquitous human creation is found in the most remote places – from the Arctic to Antarctica, from the highest slopes of Mount Everest to the deepest part of the ocean, the Mariana Trench.

But plastic is also as close as we can get to city streets, parks, rivers, streams, beaches and the entire ocean – where it’s hurting and killing wildlife. To the surprise of many, plastic is even found throughout the human body.

That’s why the theme of Earth Day 2024, “Earth and Plastic,” is no exaggeration. Humanity’s relationship with the cheap, durable material, which can take centuries or more to break down, is at an important crossroads — as scientific evidence grows that plastic pollution affects wildlife, Harmful to natural ecosystems and human health.

Fortunately, there is a clear path to solving plastic pollution in the United States and around the world, although it won’t be easy.

As the Pew Charitable Trusts detailed in a 2020 report, “Breaking the Plastic Wave,By making changes at every stage of the plastic life cycle, from production and use to recycling and disposal, global plastic pollution can be reduced by 80% by 2040. But 80% solutions won’t solve the problem; 100% will be reached by 2040, although this will require additional innovation and strong political will.

To be clear, we can’t recycle our way out of this problem. Instead, solutions must span the entire plastic life cycle, focusing on reducing plastic production and demand in the first place. In fact, the Pew Research Center report found that reducing plastic production and consumption would reduce plastic pollution the most of all potential actions. Reducing production and consumption also provides the greatest opportunity to reduce greenhouse gas emissions associated with producing plastics and processing virgin plastics, which account for almost 90% of plastic emissions.

To make a difference, governments must lead these solutions with the support of businesses, NGOs, scientists, communities affected by plastic production and pollution, individuals who collect and recycle for livelihoods, and consumers.

The U.S. government now has an unprecedented opportunity to play a central role in this global effort. The United Nations is negotiating an international agreement to end plastic pollution and has set a goal of completing the agreement by the end of this year. In these negotiations, the United States should support global and legally binding obligations covering all stages of the plastic life cycle.

Earth Day began in the United States in 1970, as the country faced another era of environmental degradation—high levels of pollution in its air, water, and land, and little inspection of industrial waste. In part, through the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, and other broad federal legislation, the U.S. government has charted a path to reducing pollution and cleaning up our cities, towns, and natural areas. This work continues.

But the United States must now build on previous actions to address plastic pollution domestically by enacting strong national policies and internationally by supporting comprehensive and ambitious provisions as part of the United Nations global deal. .

U.S. leaders should view a strong domestic and international response to plastic pollution as a responsibility, not an option. The United States is the world’s second-largest producer of plastics (after China) and one of the largest producers of plastic waste and the pollution it causes.

Next week, the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee on Plastic Pollution will meet in Ottawa to continue negotiations and work at the United Nations will resume. By then, the United States should help ensure that the final agreement addresses the entire life cycle of plastics, including taking strong steps to reduce plastic production, ban problematic and avoidable products and polymers (such as multi-material plastic packaging), improve product design, and manage plastics waste.

The agreement should also focus on how to pay for the collection and management of plastics after use, such as through expanded producer responsibility – where companies launching plastic products must bear the costs of collection, sorting, recycling and waste management. Strong measures are also needed to directly address and reduce plastic pollution throughout the life cycle, especially microplastics – particles smaller than 5 mm in size, which account for approximately one-third of global plastic pollution.

A coherent and comprehensive international agreement is far more effective than leaving it to national governments to achieve these goals on their own; a country-led approach will almost certainly lead to piecemeal policies, leaving the public and private sectors with disagreements about how best to deliver solutions. Certainty. This uncertainty would in turn undermine the effectiveness of any UN agreement.

Plastic pollution is an important issue that touches all of our lives and has a considerable impact on a global scale. Earth Day gives us the opportunity to focus on the collective action needed to solve this pressing problem. A comprehensive UN agreement, with strong American leadership, is the first step toward a planetary victory over plastic.

Winnie Lau leads The Pew Charitable Trusts’ efforts to end plastic pollution.