How can a life-cycle approach curb the plastic pollution crisis?
At the recent United Nations Ocean Conference, another 22 governments agreed to join the New Plastics Economy Global Commitment, which unites stakeholders around the goal of transitioning towards a circular economy for plastic.
Co-led by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, the global commitment has over 500 signatories across businesses, governments and other organizations committed to ensuring that plastic never becomes waste.
Plastic production, use and disposal are all contributors to the triple planetary crisis. UNEP’s From Pollution to Solution report shows that some 400 million tonnes of plastic is produced annually, and 7 billion tonnes of all plastic manufactured between 1950 and 2017 has become waste.
The equivalent of a garbage truck of plastic is dumped into the ocean every minute, threatening biodiversity and damaging marine ecosystems, while greenhouse gas emissions associated with plastics are expected to reach 6.5 gigatons by 2050.
