Plastic pollution is a global challenge, and ending plastic pollution requires a global effort. Recently, the resumed Fifth United Nations Environment Assembly adopted the Draft Resolution on Ending Plastic Pollution.
Recently, the resumed Fifth United Nations Environment Assembly adopted the Draft Resolution to End Plastic Pollution, which was approved for signature by heads of state, environment ministers and other representatives from 175 countries. The resolution states the establishment of an intergovernmental negotiating committee to reach an internationally legally binding agreement by 2024, covering all aspects of plastics design, production, recycling and disposal.
The United Nations Environment Programme said the resolution will drive a fundamental shift in the way plastic is produced, consumed and managed, and is the most important international multilateral environmental resolution since the signing of the Paris Agreement on climate change. The invention of plastic was once called "one of the great masterpieces of mankind". Since the 19th century, plastic has continued to "open up the territory", from small straws, head rope, to cars, industrial equipment, inexpensive and high-quality plastic products everywhere, no one does not use. However, while plastics have brought convenience to people's lives, they have also created a global environmental challenge that we have to face.
Global plastic production has soared from 2 million tons in 1950 to 348 million tons in 2017, according to the United Nations Environment Programme. OECD data shows that less than 10% of the world's plastics are recycled. High production and low recycling rates mean that more and more plastic waste is entering the natural environment, threatening human health and global sustainable development. Some data show that humans have produced more than 8.3 billion tons of plastic so far, of which about 6.3 billion tons have become plastic waste, with an average of one truckload of plastic waste entering the ocean every minute.
How can the plastics industry be reborn as a clean cycle to end plastic pollution? The latest resolution adopted by the United Nations Environment Assembly emphasizes the whole life cycle management of plastics, taking into account the reuse and recycling of plastic products at the design stage and focusing on diversification to combat plastic pollution. As Espen Barth Eide, president of the United Nations Environment Assembly, noted, "Plastic is fully recyclable if it is integrated into the circular economy, and it is high time for a legally binding resolution to end the plastic pollution crisis."
Through strict management of the design, production, recycling and disposal of plastic products, mankind is expected to significantly reduce or even end plastic pollution. In the production process, the concept of sustainable development is integrated into it, and with the full help of technological innovation, a balance can be found between focusing on environmental protection and achieving economic benefits. At the consumption level, encourage people to change their behavior and reduce the consumption of plastic products from the legal level, and through each small change in consumption habits, gather the big energy to reduce the use of plastic products. In the recycling link, scientists and companies in some countries have begun to take action to improve the reuse of plastic waste by using degradation enzymes to degrade, make prefabricated panels to pave roads, turn into rocket fuel or re-made into plastic products.
Plastic pollution is a global challenge, and ending it requires a global effort. Managing the full life cycle of plastic products in a more sustainable way is an important step in the fight against plastic pollution. Achieving the goal of ending plastic pollution will require persistent action by the international community.
