UNITED NATIONS: With the production of plastic on the rise worldwide and creating ever more pollution, the United Nations environment chief warned that humanity cannot just recycle its way out of the mess, and she called for a total rethink about the way we use plastics.
“There are different sort of onramps to the highway to solutions. But I think everybody recognises that the status quo is just not an option,” said Inger Andersen, director of the UN Environment Program, in an interview on Thursday (Sep 21) with AFP on the sidelines of the General Assembly in New York.
Andersen was talking two weeks after the publication of the first draft of a future international treaty on plastic pollution, which is expected to be finalised by the end of 2024.
It reflects the wide range of ambitions of the 175 countries involved, notably the gap between those who argue for a reduction in the production of raw polymers and those who insist on reuse and recycling.
First, Andersen said the aim was to get rid of as many single-use plastics as possible, “eliminating what’s frankly not necessary: That thing that is wrapped in plastic that’s completely mindless, that is maybe even wrapped by nature itself”, like an orange or a banana.
Then, “there is thinking about the product itself”.
“Does the product need to be liquid? Can we rethink the product … can it be powder, can it be compressed, can it be concentrated?” she said, saying that when entering a supermarket, she goes straight to the soap aisle to see if solid versions are available.
“We also have to reduce the overall supply of new raw polymer,” she said, noting that this was one option in the draft text of the treaty.
Source: CNA
