The New Zealand Product Stewardship Council fully supports recent calls for a binding global agreement on plastic pollution, joining a growing list of government and non-government actors.
A recent article published in Science co-authored by co-founder of the NZPSC, Dr. Trisia Farrelly, asserts that a global agreement needs to be designed with three goals in mind:
1: Minimise virgin plastic production and consumption
2: Facilitate the safe circularity of plastics
3: Eliminate plastics pollution in the environment.
A global agreement is needed in order to match the magnitude and transboundary nature of the escalating problem of plastic pollution and its social, environmental, and economic impacts. A global agreement will also address gaps in current international agreements such as the inclusion of all sources of plastic pollution and addressing the full life cycle of plastics, from extraction of raw materials to legacy plastic pollution.
The authors highlight that advocating for a global agreement does not detract from the the need for national and regional action on plastic pollution prevention. Sustained efforts across existing regional and multilateral institutions are vitally important to continuously develop and strengthen action.
