A small group of oil-producing countries has torpedoed the chances of reaching an agreement on plastic pollution, which is now found everywhere on the planet, from the seabed to the summit of Everest to the breast milk of breastfeeding women . Close-up on a brilliant invention that has become a scourge for humanity.
Published at 7:00 a.m.
What agreement are we talking about?
Two years ago, countries around the world agreed on a historic first agreement to end plastic pollution by 2040. But the hardest part remained: agreeing on a binding agreement for all parties in order to achieve this objective. After a week, the 175 countries meeting in South Korea ended negotiations on Sunday without agreeing to such an agreement. “If we do nothing, in 2060, there will be more plastic than fish in the ocean,” declared the French Minister of Ecological Transition, Christophe Béchu, in 2023.
Whose fault is it?
A small group of oil-producing countries led by Russia, Saudi Arabia and Iran opposed reaching a binding deal. It should also be noted that this meeting was the fifth of its kind in the last two years and all of them ended in a failure of negotiations. Reducing plastic production is one of the main points of dispute between the countries. Remember that the global trade in plastic is estimated at 1,000 billion US dollars per year, according to the UN. This production could triple by 2060.
Will we really end up having more plastic than fish in the ocean?
According to a World Economic Forum report published in 2016, the weight of plastic pollution in the oceans could exceed the estimated weight of fish by 2050 if the trend continues. It must be said that the annual production of plastic today stands at more than 460 million tonnes, and that of the 9.2 billion tonnes of plastic produced since 1950, half was manufactured from the year 2000 onwards.
What is all this plastic for?
Plastic is literally everywhere, or almost. Packaging tops the list (36%), followed by buildings (16%), textiles (14%) and miscellaneous consumer goods (10%), according to the UN. We find plastic and its derivatives in our cell phones, our bank cards, our shoes, our computer keyboards and a multitude of everyday products.
And the clothes?
Polyester, a product derived from petroleum, is the most widely used synthetic fiber in the world (70%) for the manufacture of clothing. It is generally estimated that it takes 1.5 kg of oil to produce 1 kg of polyester. Its production is responsible for annual CO emissions2 equivalent to those of 149 million cars. Currently, 7% of global oil production is used to produce plastic.
Could plastic production harm efforts to limit global warming?
According to the Center for International Environmental Law, a Washington-based NGO, plastic production could generate 53.5 billion tons of CO2 by 2050. The International Energy Agency (IEA) also predicts that petrochemical products used to manufacture plastics will represent nearly 50% of the increase in oil demand by 2050. Plastic currently represents 3% of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
Should we reduce production or recycle plastic?
Oil-producing countries generally say they favor recycling in order to protect their petrochemical industries, while around a hundred countries, including Canada, advocate instead for a reduction in global plastic production. In fact, globally, half (49%) of plastic waste ends up in landfills and 19% is incinerated, according to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). About 22% is not taken care of and less than 10% is properly recycled. These are the figures that are put forward by those in favor of reducing plastic production.
Why is recycling so unpopular?
Not all plastics are recycled so easily, depending on their use, but the real answer is primarily economic. “It is cheaper to make a new plastic product than to collect and recycle or reuse it. “It’s a systemic problem,” said Kristian Syberg, who studies plastic pollution at the University of Roskilde in Denmark, in an interview with the magazine Scientific American in December 2022.
Has plastic really been found in women’s breast milk?
In 2022, a study carried out by Italian researchers discovered traces of microplastic in the breast milk of women who breastfed their children. However, scientists advised mothers to continue feeding their babies breast milk since the benefits of breastfeeding would outweigh the harms caused by the presence of microplastic.
With The GuardianAgence France-Presse and Scientific American
