Plastic the bane of our ecosystem

The planet Earth faces numerous grievous potential threats, and our fragile ecosystem has been degrading so fast and deeply that it will force us to brace for the worst scenario by the middle of this century if the present trend continues unchecked. Among a spate of issues, plastic pollution is one of the foremost, requiring urgent address by the community of nations.

In light of the aforesaid backdrop and related ominous challenges, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has taken the lead role in formulating an international legally binding treaty for plastic elimination following the United Nations Environment Assembly resolution 5/1 to “End Plastic Pollution” and to establish an Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC) with the sole aim of completing the work of an international legally binding instrument by the year 2024.

The first INC-1 was held in November-December 2022 at Punta Del Este, Uruguay, where government representatives from member states, policymakers, researchers, group members, stakeholders, civil society groups, NGOs, scientists, business leaders, etc., participated, and after a week-long intense deliberations, presentations, and many side events, significant progress has been made towards the working out of an effective international treaty.

Of late, the INC-2 is being held in Paris, France, from May 29–June 2, 2023, and by the end of the year 2024, a potent and abiding international treaty will evolve, heralding transformative changes so as to banish plastic pollution in terms of its production, use, recycling, and circularity in the whole plastic life-cycle.

With 430 billion tonnes of annual plastic production, only less than 10% are recycled, and most of the single-use plastic bags (SUPB) which are man-made, non-biodegradable ones, finally end up in landfills or are burned. Huge quantities litter the streams, rivers, lakes, and oceans engendering innumerable visible and invisible effects on the eco-system.

Polyethylene, the most commonly used plastic in our day-to-day lives, better known as disposable plastic, is used as food wrappers, water bottles, cups and plates, spoons, etc., which take 300 years to decompose.

Traces of micro- and nanoplastics have been detected in human blood, lung, and liver. The most dreaded objects are the plastic chemicals or additives, some of which are Bisphenol-A, phthalates, PFAs etc., that are used to bring desired functionality or to give the plastic a different shape, type, size, durability, and texture-are responsible for IQ loss, decreased cognitive development, abnormal thyroid function, miscarriages, and many other known and unknown diseases.

These are undisputed facts that have received strong support from numerous reputable laboratories in various nations. So such findings have raised alarm bells, and meanwhile, plastic pollution has also contributed to releasing greenhouse gases, leading to serious climatic effects. It is estimated that more than 80% of plastic waste makes its way to the ocean, where it gets deposited, creating clogs and seriously undermining aquatic life and marine biodiversity in a situation that is past redemption. The mountain regions and peaks like the Himalaya and other such regions could not escape the plastic threat, the major causes of which are increased consumption, tourist footfalls, atmospheric transportation of microplastic, a lack of places or difficulties for recycling or dumping, etc.

No place on earth is free from plastic pollution, and the problem assumes a huge magnitude in developing and least-developed countries. Then again, there are many smaller nations in the coastal regions that do not produce plastic but import it; they have to face the problem of plastic pollution, where waste disposal is not only problematic but huge amounts of SUPB carried by the seas make their way to the coastal regions, creating a large valley of plastic waste.

The UAE has meanwhile banned the production, use, and import of all sorts of plastic products and even asked retailers and marketers to go for any other sustainable and suitable alternatives within a specified fixed time.

The executive director of UNEP, Inger Anderson, recently commented that recycling is not the sole answer to stopping plastic pollution, what we need is circularity in each stage of the plastic life cycle. Further, she said, “It is a good sign that 193 countries supported the Plastic Treaty, and it is unique indeed.

We need sustainable products of newer design with circularity in each phase. In India, the government has banned single-use plastic from July 1, 2022. The move is indeed great, but what counts is its enforcement by the authority. A firm national action plan with the provision of regular reporting and monitoring from the regional and subregional areas to the national office as to collection of waste, recycling, or safe disposal across the country will definitely work wonders towards reducing single-use plastic. Furthermore, the government must incentivize the startup groups or the young innovators of substitutes made of cotton, plant cellulose, sugarcane bagasse, etc. Once the Plastic Treaty gets legal status after 2024, the countries are bound to honour and comply with it religiously in the greater interest of the planet itself.

The UN has prepared a blueprint to cut plastic by 80% by the year 2040, and out of the range of issues extensively deliberated upon to curb plastic production in different forums, the UN has placed much emphasis on circularity as a step towards achieving the goal of a plastic free world environment. Plastic recycling is not foolproof, as the recycling process emits toxic substances like benzene and others that are very harmful to the environment and human health.

What has been repeatedly mentioned as an essential step for minimising plastic waste is to work for behaviorable changes in people’s use of plastic. There should be products with such design and adaptability that can be used multiple times (50–100 times) so that the rate of waste disposal can be reduced to a significant level with less and less environmental impact, or a zero waste policy.

EPR (Extended Producer Responsibility) is an area of circularity where the producers are made responsible for the design of products with recyclability at the end of the product’s life cycle. This process means the producers are liable to play their part in sustainable waste management.

The world awaits with bated breath an international legally binding treaty to stop plastic pollution by the committee of nations to ensure compliance so as to save the ecosystem and our planet, as its very existence is seriously at stake.