Global Plastic Treaty 2022: What, where, why?

Global Plastic Treaty 2022: What, where, why?

This event may well have passed you by, given there is a major international conflict dominating the news headlines right now. 

However, we felt it important to draw your attention to it as it is so close to the Bower mission and the problem we are all trying to solve - plastic waste. This week, global political and business leaders met in Nairobi, Kenya to agree “A New Global Treaty on Plastic Pollution’.

Led by the United Nations Environment Programme, delegates debated a resolution put forward by a team from Rwanda and Peru, the headlines of which are as follows:

  • Establish a standardised global framework for monitoring and reporting on plastic production, consumption and waste management alongside monitoring of plastic pollution
  • By 2030, substantially reduce virgin plastic production and plastic waste through prevention, reduction and reuse and recycling in alignment with Sustainable Development Goal 12 (SDG-12).
  • Promote research and development into innovative reuse, refill, traditional and plastic-free solutions

Inger Andersen, director at UNEP, said that: “From the 1950s to today, we have produced around 9bn tonnes, and 7bn tonnes of that is waste. That waste doesn’t disappear. We may feel good when we put it into the recycling bin, but it doesn’t all get recycled … 76% ends up in landfills and then the rest is incinerated, which causes toxic emissions as well as carbon dioxide.”

This is what we’ve been saying at Bower for the last couple of years, we can’t recycle our way out of this problem! Any additional research and investment into better design systems around reuse can only be a positive step forward.

The deal has now been ratified by over 173 countries and been hailed as the most important step forward in the global fight against plastic waste. We will watch closely how this progresses and keep you guys informed!

If you haven’t already, why not join The Collective today to be part of the conversation around eliminating plastic waste. 

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