The Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee for Plastics is seeking to develop the first international, legally binding treaty on plastic pollution.
According to the UN, humans produce more than 430 million tons of plastic annually. Only ten percent of that waste is recycled with the rest finding its way into landfills or being burned.
Although there are no figures on what proportion of that discarded plastic is from electronics, experts say that even with the most conservative analysis at least 7.5 million tonnes of plastics are discarded each year as e-waste – though the figure is very likely much higher.
Plastic pollution not only harms the environment but there is increasing evidence that it leads to serious health problems by finding its way back into the human food chain.
With consumer electronics companies under pressure to reduce their environmental footprint, many have begun looking to boost their use of recycled plastic and of biodegradable and photodegradable plastics.
Although there are still doubts about whether these degradable plastics represent a credible alternative to the status quo. This week’s Paris meeting is the second of five meetings due to take place to complete the negotiations by the end of 2024.
More than 2,000 participants, including governments and observers, from nearly 200 countries are attending the event at the Paris-based UN cultural agency, UNESCO, PBS reported.
While there is a broad consensus on the need to tackle plastics waste, there is little agreement yet on what the outcome should be. At the inaugural meeting in Uruguay six months ago, some countries pressed for global mandates, some for national solutions and others for both.