After nearly two decades of negotiations, the member states of the United Nations last week in New York agreed an historic treaty to protect the high seas
Since records began in the late 1980's, over a quarter of a billion tonnes of plastic waste has been traded globally.
Negotiations have begun this week in Punta del Este, Uruguay, to hammer out the language for a new Global Plastics Treaty
The next two-and-a-half years, spent at negotiating tables in conference centres, will define how the world makes, use and dispose of plastics for generations to come
Virgin plastic production and consumption have reached unsustainable levels. Overproduction has meant inexpensive virgin plastic is used freely and inefficiently, with unfavourable economics for most recycling, leading to a stark discrepancy between how much plastic is produced and how much is recycled.
The new legally binding instrument to end plastic pollution will need to consider measures across the full lifecycle of plastics. So called ‘midstream’ measures, for example on product design, will be essential to complement absolute reductions in plastic production.