Negotiators will be locked in talks this week in Geneva, Switzerland, to finalise details of the world’s first global plastics treaty as research shows how rivers, oceans and the human body are being clogged up and harmed by plastic pollution.
The Lancet journal sounded the alarm about plastic pollution causing disease and death from birth to old age in a report released ahead of the talks, which started on Thursday. UN member states decided in 2022 to develop a legally binding treaty covering the full life cycle of plastics. The last round in December failed to reach agreement, including on reducing plastic production.
Forestry, fisheries and environment minister Dion George flew to Geneva at the weekend for the pivotal plastics meeting after announcing, on Thursday, an impending ban on plastic microbeads and products in South Africa. The public has 30 days to comment on the draft regulations on the microbeads.
Plastic microbeads (smaller than 5mm) are commonly found in cosmetics, personal care items, pesticides, toiletries and other products and are a major source of pollution.
We know that rivers worldwide are clogged with plastic — and that this plastic often ends up in the ocean
— UCLA scientist Chase Barber
“By banning them we are not only preserving biodiversity but also ensuring a healthier future for generations to come. I urge stakeholders to engage with this process and help shape regulations,” George said.
A civil society coalition in South Africa against harmful plastic and chemicals the next day commended the country's move to recognise “the environmental and health harms of microplastics like microbeads”.
The coalition, which includes GAIA Africa, Green Anglicans, Greenpeace Africa, GroundWork, South African Waste Pickers Association and WWF South Africa, said South Africa should lead with ambitious action at the talks, supporting the ban on certain plastic items and its mandatory Extended Producer Responsibility schemes.
More than eight out of 10 (82%) people support cutting plastic production and moving away from single-use plastic packaging to end plastic pollution and protect biodiversity, a 2024 Greenpeace survey across 19 countries, including South Africa, found.
A new cross-continental study in eight countries finds that two-thirds of river trash is plastic. “We know that rivers worldwide are clogged with plastic — and that this plastic often ends up in the ocean,” said Chase Brewster, the lead scientist from the University of California Santa Barbara. The report was published in the Journal of Environmental Management on Friday.
The 8,000 megatonnes of plastic waste on earth today is the equivalent volume of estimated 3,000 pyramids.
The Lancet ‘ountdown on health and plastics’ found that plastics pose a “grave, growing, and under-recognised danger to human and planetary health”.
The Lancet report unveiled an independent global monitoring system to track plastic pollution and the reduction of plastic exposure across the world. This indicator-based system will identify markers over time and geographic regions. Plastic pollution is hitting low-income and vulnerable populations hardest, the authors warned.
The South African civil society coalition encouraged negotiators at the treaty to “champion legally binding global bans and phase-outs of the most harmful plastics and chemicals of concern”.
“This is the kind of leadership needed in the global plastics treaty process,” noted the coalition, which is calling for a list of products and chemical groups proven to cause harm to human health and ecosystems to be banned.
Globally less than 10% of plastics are recycled, however, South Africa does better. Plastics South Africa said that an estimated 27.5% of plastic was recycled into new raw materials in 2023 and the collection rate of plastics was 52%.
The harms of plastics, like those of lead or air pollution, can be reduced “through evidence-based, transparently tracked, effectively implemented, and adequately financed laws and policies”, The Lancet authors concluded in support of a global agreement to tackle plastic pollution.
The South African coalition said: “Now is the time to raise the bar internationally. The world is watching. South Africa must stand with the ambitious group of countries pushing for a strong, legally binding treaty that prioritises reduction in plastic production to end plastic pollution for people and the natural environment.”
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