In this file photo taken on February 11, 2022 children play in piles of plastic wastes collected for recycling in Makassar.聽 The torrent of man-made chemical and plastic waste worldwide has massively exceeded limits safe for humanity or the planet, and production caps are urgently needed, scientists have concluded for the first time. (AFP)
PARIS, France聽 鈥� Less than 10 percent of the plastic used across the world is recycled, the OECD said Tuesday, calling for 鈥渃oordinated and global solutions鈥� ahead of expected talks on an international plastics 聽treaty.
A new report by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development report found that 460 million tonnes of plastics were used in 2019, the number nearly doubling since 2000.
The amount of plastic waste had more than doubled during that time to 353 million tonnes, the Paris-based OECD said.
鈥淎fter taking into account losses during recycling, only nine percent of plastic waste was ultimately recycled, while 19 percent was incinerated and almost 50 percent went to sanitary landfills,鈥� it said in its Global Plastics Outlook.
鈥淭he remaining 22 percent was disposed of in uncontrolled dumpsites, burned in open pits or leaked into the environment.鈥�
The Covid-19 pandemic saw the use of plastics drop by 2.2 percent in 2020 compared to the previous year. However single-use plastics rose and overall use is 鈥減rojected to pick up again鈥� as the economy rebounds.
Plastics contributed 3.4 percent of global greenhouse emissions in 2019, 90 percent of it from 鈥減roduction and conversion from fossil fuels鈥�, the report said.
In the face of rampant global warming and pollution, it is 鈥渃rucial that countries respond to the challenge with coordinated and global solutions鈥�, OECD Secretary-General Mathias Cormann said in the report.
The OECD proposed a series of 鈥渓evers鈥� to address the issue, including developing the market for recycled plastics, which only represent six percent of the total 鈥� largely because they are more expensive.
It added that new technologies related to decreasing the environmental footprint of plastic represented only 1.2 percent of all innovation concerning the product.
While calling for 鈥渁 more circular plastics lifecycle鈥�, the OECD said that policies must also restrain overall consumption.
It also called for 鈥渕ajor investments in basic waste management infrastructure鈥�, including 25 billion euros ($28 billion) a year to go towards efforts in low and middle-income countries.
Plastic treaty talks
The report comes less than a week before the聽UN Environment Assembly begins on February 28 in Nairobi, where formal talks are expected to begin on a future international plastics treaty, the scope of which will be discussed.
Shardul Agrawala, the head of the OECD鈥檚 environment and economy integration division, said Tuesday鈥檚 report 鈥渇urther accentuates the need for countries to come together to start looking towards a global agreement to address this very important problem鈥�.
Asked about the priorities of the treaty to be discussed in Nairobi, she said that 鈥渢here is an urgent waste management problem which is responsible for the bulk of the leakage to the environment鈥�.
鈥淏ut we should not limit our focus just to the end of pipe solutions, there is a greater need in the long term to forge international cooperation and agreement towards alignment of standards,鈥� she told an online press briefing Monday.
In a survey published Tuesday by polling firm Ipsos for the World Wildlife Fund, 88 percent of respondents stressed the importance of an international treaty to combat plastic pollution.
In the 28 countries surveyed, 23 percent of the respondents said such a treaty was 鈥渇airly important鈥�, 31 percent said it was 鈥渧ery important鈥� and 34 percent found it 鈥渆ssential鈥�.