OEWG to Prepare the INC to End Plastic Pollution Technical Briefing | Health, Chemicals, Plastics & a Non-Toxic Circular Economy

About this Session

In March 2022, the 5^thUnited Nations Environmental Assembly (UNEA-5) made a historic decision to begin negotiations for a binding agreement to end plastic pollution to be finalized by the end of 2024. The International Negotiation Committee (INC) will have a broad mandate to address all aspects of plastic pollution in all environments. The UNEA plastic treaty mandate calls for the negotiation of measures that promote sustainable production and consumption (in line with SDG 12) through product design and circular economy approaches.

All plastic materials are made of complex mixtures of chemicals, many of which are known to be hazardous and threaten public health and the environment and whose continued use would threaten the goal of a safe circular economy. While some of these hazardous chemicals are regulated in some countries, most of the hazardous chemicals can be used and exported in plastics with limited controls and traceability.  Allowing the continued use of hazardous chemicals as plastic ingredients without controls could lead to unsafe stockpiles of plastics for recycling and an unsafe circular economy.

The purpose of this technical information briefing was to swiftly orient and inform delegates on key issues the INCs will address, related to how ubiquitous chemicals in plastics, particularly endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs), can impact human health, and the circular economy challenges regarding hazardous chemicals. Delegates from Africa, Europe and Latin America will share their perspectives on a non-toxic circular economy, and opportunities for a plastics treaty to address the health hazards of plastics and of their hazardous chemical ingredients throughout their life-cycle.

The audience for this briefing included delegates and all stakeholders registered for OEWG in Dakar and online.

Video

The video of the event is available on this webpage.

Documents

• Presentations made during the event
• IPEN’s Toxic Plastics Campaign
• How could the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm (BRS) Conventions contribute to the new global treaty on Plastic Pollution | BRS | May 2022

Links

• IPEN’s Toxic Plastics Campaign
• Ad hoc open-ended working group (OEWG) to prepare for the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee to end plastic pollution
• Geneva Beat Plastic Pollution Dialogues
• Plastics and the Environment | Regularly updated resource page
• IPEN Plastics Treaty Platform | Protecting human health and the environment from toxic chemicals | IPEN | May 2022
• 3 Key Principles for a Plastics Treaty – IPEN Quick Views for Dakar OEWG Meeting | IPEN | May 2022
• Hazardous Chemicals in Plastic Products | IPEN | May 2022
• How could the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm (BRS) Conventions contribute to the new global treaty on Plastic Pollution | BRS | May 2022
• Panelists Agree Chemicals Important to Future Plastic Treaty | IPEN | 15 March 2022
• Plastic Poisons the Circular Economy | IPEN | 13 February 2022
• New global studies show health threats throughout the plastics supply chain | IPEN | 13 December 2021
• Toxic Chemicals in Plastic Waste Poisoning People in Africa, Asia, Central and Eastern Europe & Latin America | IPEN | 22 June 2021
• Geneva Beat Plastic Pollution Dialogues – Plastics and Health | Geneva Environment Network | 21 January 2021
• 7 Harmful Chemical Types in Plastics | IPEN & The Endocrine Society | 2020
• Everyday Plastics Are Leaching Hazardous Chemicals | The Endocrine Society | 18 December 2020
• Plastics, EDCs & Health: Authoritative Guide | Endocrine Society and IPEN | 10 December 2020

The resource page on Plastics and the Environment provides further information on the impacts of plastic pollution on people and the planet, the current activities ongoing in Geneva and beyond to address the plastic crisis, with the latest scientific findings and news on the matter.