The fourth session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee to develop a legally binding international instrument on plastic pollution, particularly in the marine environment, is scheduled for April 23-29, 2024 at the Shaw Center in Ottawa, Canada. It will be preceded by regional consultations on April 21, 2024.
The production of plastic waste is considerable, each year, more than 280 million tonnes of plastic products used for a short period of time are thrown away. Overall, 46% of plastic waste is sent to landfill, while 22% is mismanaged and becomes waste, often dumped as far as the eye can see, in illegal dumpsites. The United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) is an organization of the United Nations system, created in 1972, with the aim, among other things, of:
-coordinate the activities of the United Nations in the field of the environment;
-assist countries in the implementation of environmental policies.
It must be said, to regret it, that UNEP previously proposed recycling and the circular economy as a solution to the problems generated by the proliferation of plastic. Today, progress in science challenges this preconceived idea.
In 2020, NGOs from 24 countries, including Terre et Développement pour le Cameroun, visited local small-scale recycling facilities, and purchased bags of recycled high-density polyethylene (HDPE) pellets. This type of plastic was selected because it is one of the most commonly used around the world. The pellets were initially analyzed in laboratories in several European countries, for the presence of the chemical bisphenol A and several chemicals from both groups of brominated flame retardants and benzotriazole UV stabilizers.
The initial analysis covered 18 chemicals hazardous to human health. Two pellet samples were found to contain 16 of these chemicals. More than half of the samples (54%) contained 11 or more toxic chemicals, and 21 pellet samples contained all three groups of targeted chemicals, all harmful to humans.
All pellet samples contained one or more of the targeted chemicals. Hence the concern of IPEN (International Pollution Elimination Network) which is proposing at this conference, at a minimum, labeling of plastic containers, in order to keep anyone who may be in contact with this material informed. This method will hopefully increase awareness among users and the general public. In addition to labeling, IPEN suggests that traceability be made for recycled plastic products, in order to control their life cycle. So recycling would not be a panacea and other innovative ideas should emerge at the end of this meeting with the aim of limiting the invasion of the oceans by our plastic waste which constitutes a real threat to underwater species. and even terrestrial, including man in particular.
Clément Noumsi
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