Have you heard about talks on a treaty to cut plastic pollution?
The Associated Press
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Hello and welcome to The Associated Press Climate Watch newsletter. I am Natalia Gutiérrez , climate engagement manager. With experts meeting in Bangkok this week to advance what would be the first international treaty to tackle plastic pollution, I’m going to answer some of the questions people frequently ask in online queries about the problem.?
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Plastic is everywhere in our modern society. It’s part of our lives from the moment we wake up until we go to bed. This chemical marvel can be twisted and teased into a seemingly endless array of uses, and after decades of production, it’s no surprise that plastic pollution is a severe global problem. ?
The equivalent of 2,000 garbage trucks full of plastic get into the world's oceans, rivers, and lakes every day, according to United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). It’s in your drinking water, your food and your body. And the problem may only get worse; plastic production is projected to triple by 2050.?
Let’s answer some general questions:?
What is plastic pollution? ?
Plastic pollution can be described as the buildup of plastic items and particles in the environment, like bags, water bottles and packaging. Unlike other materials, plastic does not biodegrade, causing a negative effect on humans, wildlife, and natural habitats. The UNEP says it also contributes to the climate crisis since its production because they are mostly made from fossil fuels, generating greenhouse gas emissions. ?
What’s so bad about it??
For starters, it takes a very, very long time to break down – as much as 1,000 years, according to UNEP.?
As plastic builds up in the environment, it damages soil and poisons groundwater. It makes its way into oceans, where large bits can ensnare marine wildlife and tiny bits get ingested by the sea creatures.?
They aren’t the only ones. Humans are increasingly breathing, eating and drinking tiny particles of plastic. Scientists say more work is necessary to determine its effect on our health, but they also warn that the plastics carry hazardous chemical additives.?
Plastic production also contributes to climate change, since plastics are made from fossil fuels that hasten warming. ?
How is plastic pollution hurting the ocean??
A review of almost 2,600 research papers, commissioned by the environmental group WWF, concluded that almost every species in the ocean has been affected by plastic pollution and that it’s harming important ecosystems such as coral reefs and mangroves.??
Getting that plastic out of the water again is nearly impossible, so policymakers should focus on preventing any more of it entering the oceans in the first place, said biologist Melanie Bergmann, a co-author of the study.?
“We find it in the deepest ocean trenches, at the sea surface and in Arctic Sea ice,” Bergmann said.?
Nearly 5 billion tons of plastic produced since the early 1950s has ended up in either landfills or in the natural environment, they said.??
Can plastic pollution be solved??
That’s the goal of talks right now for a global plastics treaty, a process that has been closely followed by AP reporter Jennifer McDermott.?
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Thousands of negotiators, experts and observers representing most of the world’s nations have gathered in Punta del Este, Nairobi, Paris, and Ottawa since last year. Now experts are meeting in Bangkok in pursuit of the first legally binding treaty on plastics pollution, including in the oceans. The final scheduled negotiation is in South Korea this November.?
Most contentious is the idea of limiting how much plastic is manufactured. That’s still in draft text over objections from plastic-producing countries and companies and oil and gas exporters. A coalition among Iran Saudi Arabia, China, Russia and other countries with large petrochemical industries want to focus?the treaty on waste control, rather than the entire life cycle of plastics as agreed last year, raising concerns from environmentalists.?
Doesn’t recycling take care of this problem??
No. Most plastic gets buried, burned or dumped – less than 10% is recycled.?
The plastics industry says there is a way to help solve the crisis of plastic waste — recycle it, chemically. That’s a process that typically uses heat or chemical solvents to break down plastics into liquid and gas to produce an oil-like mixture or basic chemicals. Industry leaders say that mixture can be made back into plastic pellets to make new products.??
But environmental groups argued that advanced recycling does not work, and that it’s a distraction from real solutions like making and using less plastic. They say the idea of recyclable plastics only enables the steep growth in plastic production to continue.
What can I do??
Do what you can. People have the power to use less plastic in their daily lives.?
Judith Enck, a former Environmental Protection Agency regional administrator who now heads up the advocacy group Beyond Plastics, offered these tips on avoiding plastic in supermarkets?
You’re not going to be perfect but do the best you can and focus on things you buy most often.?
“Even small steps make a difference because big supermarkets notice when people ask for less packaged material,” Enck said.?
?Climate Solutions??
Protecting the Amazon rainforest, and the people who live in it, is a never-ending challenge. It's worth taking a look back at this 2023 story on how a French company's sneakers are a boon for rubber tappers. The company, Veja, works with a local cooperative called Cooperacre that has reenergized the production of a sustainable forest product and improved the lives of hundreds of rubber tapper families. Though modest in scale, the project provides a real-life example of living sustainably from the forest by helping young rubber tappers to stay in their community and to get paid fairly.?
Thank you for reading this newsletter. We’ll be back next week. For questions, suggestions or ideas please email [email protected]?
This newsletter was written and produced by climate engagement manager Natalia Gutiérrez and edited by Douglas Glass.
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Bilingual safety trainer & orchard owner
3 个月From a family whose parents were children of the yes “ Great Depression of the 1930s we were raised to buy reliable products and use them to the best of our ability forever. As a young adult in the early 1970 s yes I remember the famous “The Graduate” advice to the young man “Plastics” and the Polymer Scornce Department at UMass Amherst where I studied no not computers no not engineering but Plant & Soil Sciences. Boy, have we used a lot of plastics to be containers for plants fertilizers pesticides etc, to block sunlight provide shade etc, to deliver water for irrigation, those are great uses. At the same time I recycled in the 1970s and always reuse repurpose as much as possible my house is the land of never throw away. You asked!
Independent Photography Professional
3 个月Plastic is regretably Earth's worst environmental enemy suffocating our planet with every passing second. Pray, resist using anything plastic. Clear it away from street drains, reuse it if you have a plastic bottle till it disintegrates basically, avoid any food products wrapped in plastic, and research ways of reusing plastic benefiting vs destroying our environment if that is possible. Do your research to save our planet from this suffocation.
Immigration counselor, translator, writer at Center for New Citizens a Latino Non-profit organization
3 个月Just talking? Shameful