A historic treaty to beat plastic pollution


On Wednesday, representatives from 175 nations agreed to draft a global treaty that would start to tackle the exponentially growing amount of plastic pollution that we’re facing – essentially a Paris Agreement for plastics.

The agreement commits nations to work on a legally-binding treaty that would not only seek to improve recycling and prevent plastic from getting into the environment, but it would also start to reduce the amount of plastic that’s produced. Which means that we could see provisions in the eventual treaty that would ban more single-use plastic products and encourage more reusable packaging. 

And what’s really exciting is that Wednesday’s agreement specifies that any global treaty has to address the full lifecycle impacts of plastics – from production to disposal, recycling and reuse. 

The treaty will also address packaging design to cut down on plastic use, improve recycling and support developing nations with implementation. Negotiators are now set to meet this year to start hammering out the details, with the goal of having a treaty developed and ratified by 2024. 

This is an incredibly exciting development, and so many organizations have been working tirelessly on this. We especially want to thank our friends at the Center for International Environmental Law, the Environmental Investigation Agency, the World Wildlife Fund, BreakFreeFromPlastic and the Ocean Plastic Leadership Network.

Ben Von Wong, UNEA 5.2. Nairobi. This #TurnOffThePlasticTap art installation was made with the help of the Human Needs Project with plastics from Kibera, the largest slum in Africa located less than 10 miles away.

Matt Prindiville

Matt is a recognized thought leader within the plastic pollution community and advises the United Nations Environment Program on their plastic pollution strategies. He is one of the founders of the global Break Free from Plastic Movement and the founder of the Cradle2 Coalition and Make It Take It Campaign. He helped establish and advance the Electronics Takeback Coalition, the Multi-State Mercury Campaign, and the Safer Chemicals and Healthy Families Coalition. Matt has written for the Guardian, GreenBiz, and Sustainable Brands among other publications. He’s been featured in the Economist, the New York Times, on NPR’s 1A, Jack Johnson’s Smog of the Sea film, and consulted with 60 Minutes on their plastic pollution special. He can be found surfing, snowboarding, and coaching his daughter's basketball team.

Previous
Previous

Eliminating single-use cups at events

Next
Next

A Step-by-Step Guide to Launching a Reuse Coalition