An International Agreement against Plastic Pollution Is Needed

Abstract

The world is in danger of drowning in plastic waste unless we finally take global countermeasures. Even in the remotest corners of the world, traces of plastic waste are found, including at the bottom of the Mariana Trench or in the Arctic sea ice. The countries of the global south are bearing the burden of the ever-increasing flood of plastics in particular. The supposedly recyclable plastic waste all too often ends up in illegal landfills. From there, it gradually pollutes the environment and eventually ends up in the oceans - or it is openly incinerated. However, the solution is not only to better recycle. A radical discontinuance of the ever-growing plastic production is needed as well as the establishment of a sustainable recycling economy by means of globally binding rules.