Specialists say the issue is especially extreme in rising economies which lack the delicate recycling processes of wealthier nations.
This might be improved via schemes equivalent to Prolonged Producer Duty (EPR) the place plastic producers are made accountable for the tip of a product’s life cycle, equivalent to by offering funds to cowl the prices of recycling.
Ought to we ban single-use plastics?
The Again to Blue report examined three predominant methods by which governments have tried to scale back plastic consumption, together with EPR schemes, manufacturing taxes and bans on single-use plastics.
It discovered that single-use bans have been the simplest, however stated that if these have been carried out in G20 international locations with out some other measures, plastic consumption would nonetheless be one-and-a-half instances larger by 2050.
The world generated an extra 6 million tons of polluting single-use plastic in 2021 in comparison with 2019, based on analysis in 2023 by the Minderoo Basis in Australia.
Steve Fletcher, a number one plastics skilled on the College of Portsmouth in Britain, stated there was typically a “false distinction” between single-use plastics and people that are genuinely multi-use.
He stated there needs to be bans on plastics that lack a transparent goal, are poisonous and can’t be reused or recycled.
How can plastic consumption be diminished?
Analysts say one of many challenges in the case of decreasing plastic consumption is how low-cost it’s to supply, because of fossil gasoline subsidies.
Fletcher stated extra monetary incentives are wanted to “degree the enjoying area” to make recycled plastics extra interesting, together with taxes on virgin plastic.
One other solution to scale back plastic consumption is to introduce “system-wide shifts” in direction of reuse, he stated.
This might embody making merchandise reusable by design and creating processes equivalent to a sports activities stadium reusing cups and cutlery, very like how conventional milkmen reused glass bottles.
Does the world want a plastics treaty?
Given the worldwide nature of provide chains, analysts say native schemes alone could also be unsuccessful to chop down on plastic, as provide chains can sidestep fragmented insurance policies.
Final November, delegates met in Kenya for the final spherical of UN plastics treaty negotiations, and at their fourth assembly in Canada’s capital, international locations now purpose to put the groundwork for a remaining deal later this yr.
A UN treaty may create steering and requirements to assist international locations determine which plastics are pointless, assess what they will change and implement these choices, stated Parker from Economist Affect.
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