End of plastic pollution is ‘within reach’, says UN

Plastic pollution could be slashed by 80% by 2040 if countries and companies align action on technologies, policies and markets, according to a new report from the UN Environment Programme (Unep).

The report, Turning off the Tap: How the world can end plastic pollution and create a circular economy states that we must first focus our efforts on eliminating problematic and unnecessary plastics to reduce the size of the problem, and then focus on three key measures: reuse, recycle, and reorientation.

Promoting reuse options such as refillable bottles and bottle return schemes is projected to reduce 30% of plastic pollution, while recycling – if made more stable and profitable – could reduce plastic pollution by an additional 20%. Reorientation, meanwhile, which involves replacing products such as plastic wrappers and sachets with alternative materials, could deliver a further 17% decrease.

According to Unep, shifting to a circular economy would result in $1.27trillion in savings, with a further $3.25trillion of costs related health, pollution, climate and litigation costs eliminated. This transition could also result in an increase of 700,000 jobs for those in low-income countries, and significantly improve the livelihood of millions of workers.

Achieving this shift, however, will require harmonised international action with co-ordinated measures and obligations between nations and across value chains to “create a major shift in the plastics policy landscape”. 

Inger Anderson, Unep’s executive director, notes: “Everybody has a role to play. Governments can create the regulatory environment to incentivise the shift to a circular economy – and the political will to do so is there, backed by broad social support. The petrochemical industry, municipalities, informal waste pickers, plastic converters and key users – such as packaging, textile, transport, fisheries and agricultural – can accelerate reuse and recycling and ensure the sustainability of alternatives introduced in the market. The finance industry can play a central role by aligning capital flows with a circular plastics economy.”

The report, which has been released ahead of a second round of negotiations in Paris on an internationally-binding treaty on plastic pollution, makes it clear that time is of the essence, with a five-year delay on action potentially leading to an increase of 80million metric tonnes of plastic pollution by 2040.

Steve Hynd, policy manager at environmental organisation City to Sea says, “This report is a wakeup call for national negotiators ahead of the next round of negotiations for a global plastics treaty. The report rightly highlights the need for wholesale reduction in plastics. This is especially true for packaging where we need to see the total elimination of many forms of plastic packaging.”

He adds: “Plastic pollution is not inevitable, it’s a political choice. Voters should remember that when they go to the ballot box.”

Paula Chin, senior policy advisor at WWF UK, says that the report reinforces the urgent need for a robust global commitment. “Plastic pollution continues to increase in spite of different measures adopted by governments and businesses across the world,” she notes. “The treaty has to deliver legally binding measures and catalyse meaningful systems change away from single-use plastics towards reuse and refill models of consumption if we are to achieve our ambition of no plastics in nature by 2030.”

Further reading

Unep’s report, Turning off the Tap

The World Economic Forum’s explainer on the proposed global plastics treaty

City to Sea

WWF’s fight against plastic pollution