Plastic waste is accumulating worldwide at an alarming rate. The World Bank estimates that one and all on the planet produces a median 0.74 kilograms of plastic waste per day.
To stem this influx, 175 countries Negotiation of a binding international treaty against plastic pollution, with a completion goal of the top of 2024. In July 2024, the Biden administration published the first US plan to resolve this problem.
The recent U.S. strategy covers five areas: plastics production, product design, waste generation, waste management, and plastic capture and removal. It also lists actions that federal agencies and departments are currently pursuing.
I study Environmental lawincluding Efforts to scale back plastic pollution. As the world's largest economy, the U.S. is a critical player on this effort. Based on my research, listed here are three proposals within the U.S. plan that I believe are necessary, and one omission that I consider a serious gap.
A nationwide standard for measuring microplastics
Studies have found tiny plastic fragments, so-called microplastic particles, in environments equivalent to the atmosphere, Drinking water sources, wild animals And human food chains.
While scientists have found that wildlife, equivalent to seabirds, may be harmed by eating plastic, Effects on human health are less clearUnlike other pollutants, microplastic particles have different effects depending on their size. their shape and where they occur, equivalent to in food, air or water. And people may be exposed to them through many alternative waysincluding inhalation, ingestion and make contact with.
There is not any federal standard for measuring microplastics in numerous media equivalent to water and soil, so studies lack standardized definitions, methods and reporting techniques. In 2023, California launched a Microplastics monitoring programincluding the event of a standardized method for measuring microplastics in drinking water.
The Biden administration's plan calls for developing standardized methods to detect, quantify and characterize microplastics and nanoplastics, that are even smaller. This will help scientists generate consistent data which regulators can use to set limits for microplastics in food, water and air.
Extended producer responsibility
All plastics contain chemicals that give them properties equivalent to strength, softness, color and fire resistance. A subset of those chemicals, including Bisphenols and phthalateshave been related to antagonistic health effects, including fetal abnormalities, reproductive health problems and cancer.
Some scientists argue that certain forms of plastic waste with particularly harmful ingredients or properties, including PVC, polystyrene, polyurethane and polycarbonate, classified as hazardous wasteCurrently, the United States, Europe, Australia and Japan consider items made out of these plastics as solid waste and treat them in the identical way as leftover food from the kitchen or used office paper.
The incontrovertible fact that only about 5% of US plastic waste is currently recycledof which 9% is incinerated and 86% is disposed of in landfills, has led to calls for some responsibility to be given to plastics producers.
Expanded producer responsibility lawsthat apply to other products, equivalent to paints and electronics, require manufacturers to gather and eliminate their products or to bear a part of the prices of disposing of this waste. Such requirements give manufacturers an incentive to supply more environmentally friendly products and to advertise recycling.
From mid-2024 California, Colorado, Maine and Oregon have passed laws on prolonged producer responsibility for plastic waste, and a couple of dozen other states are considering similar measures. Studies show that when such policies are adopted, Recycling rates are increasing.
The Biden administration's plan calls for the creation of a national prolonged producer responsibility initiative that may allow state, local and tribal governments to develop their very own approaches while providing a vision for a harmonized national system and goals for managing plastic waste. Federal support could help more jurisdictions adopt rules requiring manufacturers to take part in managing that waste.
Ban on single-use plastic
Bans on plastic items are a method of reducing waste generation. Most of those measures concern items which can be used once after which thrown away, equivalent to shopping bags, food packaging and plastic bottles. Such items are probably the most common plastics within the environment.
The U.S. plan calls for the event of strategies to “replace, reduce, and phase out the federal government’s unnecessary use and purchase of plastic products,” including an end to the acquisition of single-use plastic items by 2035. Although this measure only applies to make use of by federal agencies, the U.S. government is the largest single buyer of products and services worldwideso this step generally is a strong signal for alternative products.
Limiting plastic production
Current forecasts assume that global plastics production double by 2040with a concomitant increase in plastic waste. In response, 66 countries have Coalition with high ambitionsco-chaired by Norway and Rwanda to support stricter provisions in the worldwide plastics agreement. One of its key goals is to limit global plastics production.
In early 2024, several nations involved within the treaty negotiations proposed reducing global plastics production by 40% below 2025 levels by 2040. This concept remains to be under discussion.
Plastics manufacturers and corporations that depend on plastic argue that a production restriction drive up costs of all plastics. Instead the World Plastics Council call for measures to scale back the quantity of plastic waste, equivalent to using resins with a better recycled content and increasing recycling rates.
The US had not selected a cap on plastic production until mid-2024. However, in August, press reports said that the Biden administration would change its position and will support bordersincluding the creation of a worldwide list of chemicals to be restricted.
This is a giant change that I believe could encourage more countries to support restrictions on the production of latest plastics. Details will likely emerge as the ultimate round of negotiations, scheduled for November 2024 in Busan, South Korea, approaches. The plastics industry is firmly against limiting productionand Congress would wish to ratify a worldwide treaty to make its provisions binding on the United States. However, U.S. support could increase the possibilities of capping the ever-increasing flow of plastic into the worldwide economy.
This article has been updated to reflect reports that the Biden administration will support limiting future plastic production.
image credit : theconversation.com