Too much plastic

The photo that won this year's edition of the British Wildlife Photography Awards, a prestigious English prize for shots of natural environments, portrays a football football in the open sea which has become a "rock"; in fact, it hides a colony of crustaceans under the water level. This artificial rock, following a long journey in the ocean, reached the English coast, allowing the living beings transported to influence the local ecosystem. This is one of many examples of how plastic pollution continues to spread across the oceans.

Plastic is now omnipresent: waste, large or small, is found on the ocean floor and on the tops of mountains; furthermore, microscopic particles of plastic material have been identified in human blood and breast milk. Plastic pollution has increased in recent years, just think that annual production has more than doubled in the last 20 years, reaching 460 million tonnes (only 9% of plastic is recycled). Finally, plastic production also has an impact on global warming: in 2019 it accounted for over 3% of global greenhouse gas emissions.

Aware of the threat to the balance and quality of life of all living beings, the United Nations Environment Program has agreed to work on the first global treaty against plastic pollution in 2022 , aimed at establishing binding measures to limit the production and consumption of plastic and strengthen its recycling and waste management. One of the greatest difficulties is finding a position and proposals that can be shared by the member countries of OPEC (Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries). There have already been three meetings which have allowed the "zero draft" to be drawn up. of this treaty. The last two meetings will be held soon, in Canada and South Korea, with the aim of officially concluding the treaty by 2024.
A group of scientists offering advice to the negotiators of the treaty has drawn up a list of over 16 thousand plastic chemical substances, highlighting that over 4 thousand have characteristics of greater danger because they are persistent, toxic and/or capable of accumulating in living organisms. Scientists therefore ask that the treaty include the list of "dangerous" molecules and that plastics producing industries declare the components present in their products.

It will be important that in the final treaty the countries do not opt ​​for voluntary choices, but for strong decisions, to substantially stem the problem. It is desirable that measures are indicated to eliminate the most harmful plastic and create a common minimum standard at a global level; that there are global bans on high-risk plastic products, polymers and potentially dangerous additives. Finally, the draft provides for the possibility of developing common requirements to design products that guarantee a circular plastic economy.


Valentina Turinetto
NP May 2024