Plastic Plays Strong Role in Health Economic Harm
(MENAFN) Plastic contamination causes more than $1.5 trillion in health-associated economic losses each year and contributes to illnesses and mortality across all stages of life, according to a recent analysis published Sunday in the medical periodical The Lancet.
“The world is in a plastics crisis,” the researchers stated. “But it is not inevitable.”
They advocate for evidence-based, cost-efficient policy measures — including regulations, enforcement, and monetary incentives — akin to strategies employed to tackle air pollution and lead poisoning.
These conclusions emerge just as UN-led talks aimed at concluding a worldwide plastics treaty restart in Geneva.
Describing plastics as a “grave and growing” danger to both human wellbeing and the planet, the review cautions that plastic manufacturing is rapidly increasing.
The study reveals that plastic production has surged from merely 2 million metric tons in 1950 to 475 million tons in 2022 and is expected to reach 1.2 billion tons by 2060.
At the same time, 8 billion tons of plastic refuse have accumulated in the environment, mostly persisting in ecosystems because of its resistance to natural breakdown.
Under 10% of plastic waste is recycled.
This publication coincides with the resumption of global negotiations this week in Geneva for the second part of the fifth session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC-5.2).
From August 5 to 14, representatives from over 170 nations will strive to regain progress toward a legally binding pact to reduce plastic contamination.
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