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Plastic pollution: three numbers that support a crackdown

As negotiators haggle over a global treaty to curb plastics pollution, a flood of data outlines how a treaty could make a difference.
  1. Nicola Jones
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A stuffed toy of the Sesame Street character "Elmo" surrounded by plastic waste on a beach on the Freedom island critical habitat and ecotourism area near Manila.

Plastic waste covers a beach near Manila. Credit: Noel Celis/AFP via Getty

Negotiators from around the world are gathering in Ottawa this week to try to hash out the text for a new international treaty on plastic pollution. The delegates are short on time: the treaty process, which started in 2022, is due to be finalized this December. But they are not short on science, thanks to a surge of new data and models from researchers aiming to inform the talks.

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doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-024-01117-1

References

  1. Lau, W. W. et al. Science 369, 1455–1461 (2020).

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  2. Karali, N., Khanna, N. & Shah, N. Climate Impact of Primary Plastic Production (Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, 2024).

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