Experts are urging swift action as United Nations member states prepare for next month’s negotiations on a global plastics treaty aimed at reducing pollution from production through disposal.
Lauren Giella reports for Newsweek.
In short:
- A Newsweek-hosted panel of scientists and industry leaders discussed rising plastic waste and the potential for a binding UN treaty to address its full lifecycle.
- Panelists warned of the health, biodiversity, and climate risks tied to unchecked plastic production and urged reducing virgin plastic use as the first step.
- Negotiators hope to finalize a treaty that sets global standards for recycling, eliminates problematic materials and finances waste management upgrades.
Key quote:
"It's pretty serious for us, pretty serious for our planet, and the problem is only growing. Without intervention, without a strong treaty, business as usual will take us to a 2050 where we double the amount of plastic pollution on our planet."
— Dr. Douglas McCauley, University of California, Santa Barbara
Why this matters:
Plastic waste permeates ecosystems and human bodies alike, breaking into microplastics that show up in seafood, drinking water, and even the air. Production is set to triple by 2060 if unchecked, driving up greenhouse gas emissions and pressuring waste systems already overflowing. Marine life is suffocating in plastic debris, and the chemicals in many plastics pose poorly understood risks to human health, from hormone disruption to long-term disease. A coordinated treaty would mark the first global attempt to confront plastics from cradle to grave, signaling whether nations are ready to treat plastic pollution as a planetary emergency alongside climate change.
Learn more: Countries weigh last chance to agree on treaty to curb plastic pollution
