Science based targets for a Global Plastics Treaty

More than two-thirds of UN member states have declared they are open to a new agreement to stem the rising tide of plastic waste. The treaty would be akin to the Paris climate agreement and the Montreal protocol to prevent ozone depletion. 

When it comes to measuring Co2 emissions, the metrics are straightforward. Scientists  can measure the amount of co2 in the atmosphere currently 412 parts per million.  Furthermore, the Paris agreement rallied consensus around the goal of limiting temperature rise to below 2%C. 

WHAT ARE THE BIGGEST CHALLENGES TO THE IMPLEMENTATION?

One of the main challenges for the implementation of a global treaty on plastic waste is the lack of universally agreed upon data. It is next to impossible to gain an accurate measurement of the amount of plastic being dumped, burnt or flowing into the ocean. Even the most renowned scientific papers on the topic are based on extrapolations of limited data points. The global treaty needs one universally accepted metric for quantifying the state of plastic pollution and creating science based targets.  

HOW CAN THEY BE SOLVED?

The Global Plastics Treaty should instead look to create science based targets from measuring the amount of microplastic in our own bodies. 

A recent study from the Medical University of Vienna in Austria analyzed human stool samples and found a median of 20 microplastic pieces per 10 grams of stool. This comes as no surprise as microplastics are now found in tap water,  beer, salt, seafood, sugar, alcohol, and honey. 

Imagine a global plastics treaty based on the targets for limiting the parts per million microplastics in the human body. Perhaps this framework could help to ratify a plastics treaty in the same way that the Paris Agreement leveraged parts per million Co2 in the atmosphere as a key metric. 

“Imagine a global plastics treaty based on the targets for limiting microplastics in the human body”

You can't manage what you can’t measure. Having a global benchmark of the PPM microplastic in the human body would help to identify the key drivers of plastic pollution in the communities with the highest microplastic levels. This data could be used to shape policy and focus efforts on solutions. One thing is certain, plastic pollution is becoming a personal issue as people gain awareness of its health impacts.

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