The Case For A Global Consensus On Plastic Waste

Oct 3

Oct 3 The Case For A Global Consensus On Plastic Waste

In 2019, a former advertising executive named Dave Ford set out to organise and facilitate a plastic waste talkathon in the format of a four-day cruise from Bermuda to the Sargasso Sea. In what was a bizarre set of circumstances, Dave united 165 individuals, from as disparate backgrounds as Greenpeace activists to CEOs of petro-chemical companies, to collaborate, debate, and understand the many issues and perspectives surrounding the problem of plastic waste.

Whilst this initiative was a success, leading to the founding of the Ocean Plastics Leadership Network, it reflected the complex and at times disparate motivations, views, and challenges associated with global environmental dilemmas such as plastic waste. In a daring stunt, a Greenpeace activist was bunked with a Nestlé executive in a ploy that was later termed ‘Sleeping with the Enemy’. Yet, as abstract as the means by which Ford came to unite this disparate group were, a powerful message rang true: one of partnership.

Much has occurred since 2019, wildfires and floods have ravaged across continents whilst droughts have oppressed the livelihoods of millions. A climate pinball is occurring, reflecting the destabilising impacts of climate change. As humanity has come to the realisation that we face an intimidatingly severe and unpredictable climate, the world has been plunged into a pandemic which has been described as nothing short of ‘unprecedented’.

In battling the pandemic, face masks and personal protective equipment (PPE) have come to symbolise the weapons deployed against this invincible viral enemy. However, the impact of these changes and responses have had devastating impacts in the fight against global plastic waste. Dave Ford, in an article for Scientific American in 2020, estimated that 129 billion face masks and 65 billion gloves were being used monthly in hospitals, care homes, and houses across the planet. It does not take much imagination to picture the worst of where a significant amount of this new waste is ending up.

Yet, this only tells one side of the story. Alarmingly, the increase in takeaway food consumption, falling oil prices, and underfunded waste management systems have created a perfect storm for a growth in plastic waste seeping into the environment globally. In many ways, plastic waste has come to symbolise an extractivist and polluting nature. The great irony is that our response to plastic waste, much like the wider environmental issues we face today, has been disjointed, delayed, and largely ineffective.

Sustainability has become somewhat of a buzzword globally. Its definition ranges depending upon the context within which it is used. However, the most quoted definition of sustainability comes from the Brundtland Report, in which sustainable development is defined as ‘development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs’.

In a nutshell, sustainability is best understood as a business, country’s, or individual person’s ability to sustain their livelihood in a manner that is not to the detriment of their, or others, future selves. What is concerning is that while the message rooted in sustainability is understood, consensus is still hard to find across the geo-political arena on issues such as plastic waste. Yet, plastic pollution has yet to be taken seriously within the international political arena. In 2019, when the United Nations Environmental Assembly last met in Nairobi, talks of a binding treaty were stunted by political nitpicking.

The problem stems from the fact there is no global consensus on important definitions within waste management. Frighteningly, according to National Geographic, there are globally at least ‘seven definitions of what is considered a plastic bag.’ There is no global consensus on many definitions, regulations, and policies regarding plastic; this makes the global problem of plastic waste eye-wateringly complex. Many have reservations about the importance of directing resources towards finding a solution for plastic waste; especially when stacked up against the overwhelming task of cutting carbon emissions and rewiring a wasteful economic system. However, the issue of plastic waste should not be snubbed.

According to Our World In Data, in 2015 the annual global production of plastic reached 381 million tonnes– a quantity equivalent to the mass of two-thirds of the world population. This figure has now increased to an annual production rate of 400 million tonnes of plastic per annum. According to their findings in 2015, an estimated 55 percent of global plastic waste was discarded, 25 percent was incinerated, and a meagre 20 percent was recycled. Retrospectively, this recycling figure is a welcome improvement compared to the 0.7 percent increase in recycling rates through the 1990s. Given that in 2015 the cumulative production of global plastics measured in at a staggering 7 billion tonnes and scientists have recently estimated that certain plastics—such as polyethylene (used to make shopping bags)—could take 1,000 years to degrade in landfill, it is easy to see why there is such cause for concern. This is not to say that much change has not occurred! Consumer attitudes have challenged companies and politicians to amend their ways and regulate unsustainable practices more strictly.

Indeed, the results of Trivium Packaging’s, a $2.7 billion global metal packaging company, 2021 Global Buying Green Report highlighted changing consumer sentiment. After surveying over 15,000 participants across Europe, North America, and South America on their perceptions and attitudes of packaging, the results were staggering. An astounding 83% of consumers among younger generations under the age of forty-four were willing to pay a higher price for sustainable packaging, with 67% of participants emphasising the importance of packaging’s recyclability.

In Europe, the European Green Deal has been instrumental in setting an ambitious plan, which looks to transform the European Union (EU) into a modern, efficient, and circular economy by 2050. Furthermore, a ban on certain single-use-plastics in the EU and United Kingdom (UK), prohibiting plastic plates and cutleries, straws, cotton swabs, and coffee stirrers, to name but a few, has put the EU in a commanding position globally.

The influence of organisations like the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, the Waste and Resource Action Programme (WRAP), and the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) have been instrumental in aligning and advising governments, companies, and regulators with insightful, informed, and constructive insights and data surrounding the move towards a circular economy (an economic model which keeps resources in an ‘infinitely repeating loop of production and consumption without waste).

As Dame Ellen MacArthur expressed in the foundation’s most recent Summit 21, the question now for businesses and governments is ‘when do I jump?’ and ‘how far do I jump?’. Yet maybe the solution is not too far out of sight. A recent study analysing the corporate network behind plastic production concluded that just 20 companies ‘are the source of money than half of all the single-use plastic items thrown away globally’. This study has reaffirmed the recent adoption of widescale Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) schemes, which place the onus of dealing with plastic waste responsibly back on producers. One would hope that staggering findings such as these reverberate around global political chambers. However, whether policies that address these problems are implemented is still to be seen.

However, there is hope. At the close of the fifth session of the UN Environment Assembly (UNEA) held in February 2021, Sveinung Rotevatn, Norway’s climate and environment minister and current president of the forum, assured media outlets that in 2022 countries would begin negotiations for a new international agreement on plastic waste. A new agreement would seek to harmonise definitions and terms, coordinate targets and policy, synthesise reporting standards, and create a well-needed fund for waste management.

This can only be positive news, as COP26 fast approaches at the end of this year. There is hope that international collaboration may commence sooner than 2022 with political leaders looking to set a new precedent for environmental reform. In some sense global clarity and action on plastic waste would set the foundations for an international community looking to solve what are seemingly mountainous climate targets and goals.