UN advises halving the use of plastics – 05/16/2023 – Environment

The world must halve the use of single-use plastics and massively adopt a new behavior that includes “reusing, recycling and new alternatives to this material to reduce the growing pollution”. This is what a United Nations report published on Tuesday (16) points out. The document does not, however, establish a global goal to reduce the production of plastics.

The study was released by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP).

“Plastics play a positive role in society in many ways,” writes UNEP Executive Director Inger Andersen. “However, there is another side to the coin: the way we produce, use and dispose of plastics pollutes ecosystems, threatens human and animal health and destabilizes the climate.”

In 2019, 353 million tons of plastic waste were produced worldwide, of which 22% ended up abandoned, that is, deposited in landfills, burned in the open or released into nature.

The report recommends “phasing out problematic and unnecessary plastics first”, in particular by “halving the production of single-use plastics”.

UNEP does not directly mention a target to reduce plastics production, which could double by 2040. The research estimates that by that date plastic could emit 19% of global greenhouse gas emissions.

Plastic abandoned in the environment

In contrast, the UN program highlights a pollution reduction target, predicting 408 million tons of waste to be managed in 2040 if the current economic model continues. This would translate to 227 million tons of plastics abandoned in the environment.

To avoid this, he encourages the international community to adopt a “systemic change scenario”, based on “three market shifts: reuse, recycle, diversify”.

“Promoting reuse, selling in bulk, deposit systems, packaging collection, can reduce plastic pollution by 30%”, estimates the report.

“An additional 20% reduction can be achieved if recycling becomes more stable and profitable”, completes the document, “eliminating fossil fuel subsidies” that make new plastics very cheap.

“Replacing packaging with alternative materials (paper or compostable) can add a 17% reduction,” adds the report based on calculations by the Pew Charitable Trusts and the Systemiq office.

“Even with these measures, 100 million tonnes of single-use plastics will still need to be processed each year through 2040, not to mention the considerable legacy of existing plastic pollution.”

This transition would save US$ 4.5 billion, estimates UNEP, which predicts the creation of 700,000 jobs with the change, mainly in poor countries.

For Hirotaka Koite, responsible for Greenpeace, “the report falls far short of the necessary ambitions” because “it does not speak of a reduction in global production”. In the assessment of the environmental protection group, “they have tried to change a pipe, replace valves, but they are not trying to turn off the faucet”.