Designing Out Single-Use Plastics: From Waste and Pollution to a Circular Economy
Authors: Suzanne Astic and Natalija Vojno
As environmentalists we have grown tired of cleaning up at the tail-end of the pipe so to speak. We can pick up litter or we can reframe the problem to view waste and pollution as the design flaws they are. Even with recycling programs in place, half of the single-use plastics consumed end up in landfills and in the Great Lakes, 80% of the litter found is plastic.
Not a single corner of the globe is free from pollution caused by microplastics, beaches and waterfronts are littered, islands of plastics float in the ocean, and people are taking notice. Yet, the global pandemic is causing a spike in the consumption of single use sanitary products, such as masks and gloves - along with an increase in less necessary single-use plastic bags and take-out containers.
Solutions abound, but not all are equally ecosystem friendly. Waste does not disappear by magic. Even when an item can be recycled (plastic bottles can up to ten times) this does not guarantee that it will be recycled. Unless the price of plastics is less than virgin material plastics may be burned or dumped, eventually finding their way into rivers and oceans. Another solution that is often celebrated is compostable or bioplastic. The Rethink Plastic Alliance warned, “Bio-based plastics rely on limited land resources and chemical-intensive industrial agriculture” and “less than 40% of bio-based plastics are designed to be biodegradable”.
The best plastic is that which we do not produce. This is where the circular economy presents a new approach for global, regional, and local policies of plastic management. The most effective solutions to the issue of plastic pollution are those that address the whole life cycles of plastics. The plastic problem of marine litter can not be tackled only at its polluting end-of-life but also throughout its entire lifespan. From its very beginning production in polluting hydrocarbons plants, to its conception and creation phases (using hazardous chemicals), to its final “management” in legal or illegal dumping sites. Intervention at these stages could prevent the visible end result of islands of floating plastic.
We know what is not good enough, so let us look at what would make a circular economy better. Several countries have indeed banned the single-used plastics bags, or even adopted circular economy legislation. For example in February 2020 France passed legislation fighting waste and promoting the circular economy. The far reaching law bans single-use plastic products (compostable or not), introduces a network of drinking water fountains, and introduces incentives to reuse or buy sustainably. On a regional level, the European Union has proposed a new Circular Economy Action Plan within the Green Deal Framework. The EU explores the interconnections between the circular economy and marine litter pollution. On May 12th 2020, the European ENVI Committee had a discussion with the Commissioner for Oceans and fisheries on the Circular economy action plan. They both insisted on the need to respect the deadlines to implement this action plan, and the Commissioner emphasized the “need to be bold and to invest in the green recovery”. Globally, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, and the European Union adopted the Ocean Plastics Charter on June 9, 2018 to commit to a framework for a more sustainable plastics life-cycle.
Extended producer responsibility legislation, plastic bans, and high recycling targets are just some policies that have already been working. The fundamental idea of prevention, as the core of the circular economy, reduces the production of plastics to the maximum extent possible.
Imagine going beyond the above model by truly embracing the idea of prevention and designing out waste. The Ellen MacArthur Foundation depicts the circular economy as a butterfly composed of two loops representing technical and biological material. One would be optimized for modular durable uses, and then the other for regeneration.
Recent advances in local and regional policies constitute an undeniable improvement that can inspire all countries to expand upon the circular economy. Although international frameworks are already regulating the waste flows (cf. the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions), there is no international agreement specifically setting binding obligations to achieve a circular economy. To reduce marine litter, the United Nations’ Member States, meeting within the United Nations Environmental Assembly (UNEA), as well as stakeholders are discussing Marine Litter and Microplastics within the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) framework. In the UNEA sessions to date, member States such as Norway, have been emboldened to present ambitious proposals for an internationally binding agreement. This idea is supported by UNEP in the report titled, “Progress in the Work of the Ad Hoc Open-Ended Expert Group on Marine Litter and Microplastics Established by Resolution 3/7’ (UNEP/EA.4/12)”.
The Youth Cafe through The Major Group for Children and Youth (MGCY), is one of the nine Major groups representing civil society in fundamental processes including the Ad Hoc Open-Ended Expert Groups taking place between the UNEA sessions. MGCY is pledging for a strong internationally binding text containing measures that enable a move towards circularity and a reduction of plastic waste. MGCY is particularly interested in the circular economy and the significant environmental and health effects posed by plastic pollution and marine letter to present and future generations. The devastating impact of toxins present in plastics on the youngest generations is well documented. “Some Plastics Can Poison Children” and we, children and young people represented by the MGCY, will actively participate in the UNEA negotiations and pledge for worldwide progresses toward a more circular economy. Furthermore, we believe, that in order to collaboratively tackle marine pollution, negotiations must be inspired by national, regional and local progresses. The UNEA will also have to facilitate divergent State ambitions in order to achieve a globally effective agreement.
To mirror our collective advocacy efforts, as individuals, we can start by changing our consumption habits toward more sustainable goods and zero waste products. Effective actions also require reliable information and a rising awareness of the ongoing challenges concerning the marine litter and the circular economy.
With more people engaged in the circular economy, we can shift the system to work in-line with planetary boundaries!
To learn more on the circular economy and the UNEA negotiations on Marine Litter and Microplastics, please find further reading:
Join the MGCY to take actions and formation on these topics: https://www.unmgcy.org/getinvolved
Seas at risk Report concerning the Circular economy and marine litter: https://seas-at-risk.org/images/pdf/Reports/CircularEconomyReducingMarineLitterAtItsSource.pdf
The Marine Litter Solutions Project : https://www.marinelittersolutions.com/projects/circular-economy-life-plastex/
Rethinking Plastic Project: https://expertisefrance.fr/fiche-projet?id=778170
The Break Free From Plastic movement : https://www.breakfreefromplastic.org/
UNIDO position on the circular economy and marine litter: https://www.unido.org/stories/circular-economy-solution-marine-plastic-litter
Design Out Waste using the Use2Use Design Toolkit
https://www.use2use.se/?page_id=610
Environmental Defence’s Six Solutions to Reduce Plastic Waste