Plastic, WWF calls for global ban on ‘high risk’ products

L’plastic pollution it is a global problem responsible for serious damage to the terrestrial and marine environment, but also to human health. A problem that therefore requires global action. From 29 May to 2 June, governments, businesses, scientists and academics, NGO and youth activists and representatives from around the world are participating in the second meeting of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC-2) in Paris, France, to develop the Global Plastics Treaty with the aim of ending global plastic pollution. This is the second of five scheduled negotiating meetings to be held within the next 2 years.

WWF is calling on governments to support global bans and the phase-out of “high-risk and unnecessary” single-use plastic products, such as plastic cutlery, e-cigarettes and microplastics in cosmetics, along with more stringent controls for the management of the end of life of plastic products, which incentivize and make reuse, collection and recycling more efficient. The new treaty is a unique opportunity to end plastic pollution and our opportunity to tackle this crisis in the right and most effective way. The meeting that opens today in Paris will be the last chance for the countries to come together to formalize a common goal and vision, codified in an ambitious and impactful global treaty, before drafting the initial draft text that it should be published later this year.

According to WWF, a robust, ambitious and effective treaty must be built on a foundation of inclusiveness and transparency, supported by the participation of a wide range of stakeholders, from governments to business but also civil society, and must include specific rules and legally binding regulations covering each stage of the life cycle of plastics. Among the priorities, the treaty must address the problems relating to all high-risk plastic products (due to the ease with which they end up in the environment and the presence of potentially toxic chemicals), such as single-use plastic objects, fishing lost or abandoned (known as “ghost gear”, ghost nets) and to microplastics which are among the pollutants most commonly found in our oceans, endangering the health of species and human beings.

WWF: set a phase-out period – WWF is calling for the treaty to also include an immediate ban on the production and sale of those higher-risk plastic products for which viable socio-economic alternatives already exist. For all those products for which viable alternatives do not yet exist on a large scale, WWF is calling for a phase-out period to be set, with a deadline of 2035, to allow governments and businesses time to implement new measures to adapt , such as reuse models. For those products that cannot be eliminated, the treaty must introduce control measures to prevent pollution, promote their circularity and their correct management.

“Many countries are already implementing concrete measures to eliminate the dispersion of plastic in the environment, to reduce its use and improve its recycling, from the ban on single-use plastic items such as bags or straws, to microplastics in cosmetics”, says Eva Alessi, sustainability manager of WWF Italy. “But we know this is not enough. There is a need for coordinated approaches, guided by globally agreed rules that can make a difference on a large scale and put all countries and companies on the same playing field.

It’s 2023. There’s no reason to keep many unnecessary and harmful single-use plastic products in circulation globally when we know they are causing so many environmental impacts, polluting waterways, choking the oceans and entering our own chain food. Industry knowledge and research can provide more sustainable solutions. We need regulations and incentives to support this transition by stimulating innovation and promoting circularity”. After a promising start with last year’s first Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC) meeting, negotiators now need to flesh out the details of the text of the treaty to address plastic pollution more effectively and fairly.