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The Transition | January 2025
People and progress in solving the ocean plastic crisis
About OpenOceans Global. Our work centers on mapping ocean plastic, curating the best solutions, and linking together a community of ocean plastic experts and leaders. Learn more on the Weather Channel's Pattrn interview, NBC7/39's Down to Earth segment, and ArcNews.
Past issues of The Transition
International Plastic Treaty Update
As reported in the December 2024 issue, negotiations for the International Plastic Treaty were suspended at the end of the December 1, 2024, session. Opposition to a cap on plastic production stifled progress toward an agreement. It was led by a group of oil-producing (plastic-producing) nations headed by Saudi Arabia, and including Iran, Russia, and other Gulf states.
In a January 21, 2025, email from the UN’s International Negotiating Committee (INC), the agency said it could not yet confirm the venue, time, and date for the next negotiating session in 2025. When plans are confirmed, information will be available on the INC website.
SevenSeas Media near shutdown
SEVENSEAS Media is facing a critical budget shortfall. Serving 34,000 subscribers, the nonprofit publishes a Marine Conservation & Travel Magazine and a regular newsletter that provides listings about jobs, grants, webinars, meetings, and other information useful to the ocean community. The organization also does beach cleanups. To help, contact Giacomo Abrusci, Executive Director and Editor-in-Chief, giacomo@sevenseasmedia.org.
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In This Issue: (links to articles below)
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Did you know?
In the absence of concrete policy action, the OECD predicts that plastic consumption could rise to a billion tonnes by 2060.
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Taking a Deeper Dive
Back to Blue shows plastic pollution increasing without bold action
If a single-use plastic ban, mandatory EPR scheme, and plastic tax on virgin resin were all enacted (blue), plastic production would decrease from a baseline of no policy interventions (white), but would still be higher than it is today. Image credit: Back to Blue
An innovative collaboration between Economist Impact and The Nippon Foundation is aiming to solve some of the most challenging ocean problems. Back to Blue calls for a zero-pollution ocean, leveraging The Economist's analytical expertise with the Nippon Foundation's focus on ocean conservation initiatives.
The two organizations share a common understanding of “the need to improve evidence-based approaches and solutions to the pressing issues faced by the ocean, restoring ocean health, and promoting sustainability. The initiative will focus initially on aspects of the vexing challenge of pollution.”
Two reports and a Plastic Management Index are available
Back to Blue has produced two reports: Peak Plastics - Bending the Consumption Curve, evaluating the effectiveness of policy mechanisms to reduce plastic use, and A Global Ocean Free from the Harmful Impacts of Pollution: Roadmap for Action.
In addition, Back to Blue has created a Plastic Management Index that measures, compares, and contrasts the efforts made by a selection of 25 countries at different stages of development. The Plastic Index looks at three categories for each country:
- Governance, which assesses a country’s mix of laws, regulations, and incentives for plastics management (36.36% weighting).
- Systemic capacity, which measures a country’s scope to oversee, collect, sort, and recycle plastic waste, and its investment in capacity-building efforts (36.36% weighting).
- Stakeholder engagement, which looks at international and national efforts by governments to combat plastic waste, along with the endeavors made by the private sector and consumers (27.26% weighting).
The Peak Plastics report says that “only bold and sweeping reforms will bend the plastic consumption curve. Achieving a reduction in plastic pollution will require all stakeholders - from the petrochemical companies to the consumers - to control the crisis. A piecemeal approach won’t work.”
Image credit: Back to Blue
The Executive Summary of the Peak Plastic report describes modeling the impact of three regulatory measures:
- A phased ban on problematic, unnecessary single-use plastic products yields the heaviest impact.
- A mandatory extended producer responsibility (EPR) program imposed on brands and retailers that introduce packaging to the market will have a minimal impact on consumption but is a vital part of the solution, and
- A tax on the production of virgin resin designed to redistribute the cost of negative environmental externalities must be aggressive to be impactful.
The model “tests whether any of these, alone or together, can achieve peak plastic consumption before 2050. The analysis is focused on the 19 countries of the G20.”
If all three policies are implemented, they will slow plastic consumption growth “but will not be enough to bring about a peak in plastic consumption by 2050, illustrating the scale of the challenge that lies ahead.” The report says bold reforms are needed and that “an integrated approach combining all three makes a dent—growth of 1.25 times the 2019 figure, compared with the baseline forecast of 1.73 times.
Plastic consumption in G20 countries could nearly double by mid-century
The report also references the global plastic treaty in a section that was written before the end of the last round of negotiations on December 1, 2024. It says “If the negotiators fail to agree on any policy interventions, we project that plastic consumption in the studied G20 countries will nearly double by mid-century.”
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Photographer Álvaro Herrero López came across this starving whale off Baja California and proceeded to free it from the ropes. Despite his efforts, it's life could not be saved. Image credit: Álvaro Herrero López/Wildlife Photographer of the Year. All the winners of the Wildlife Photographer of the Year Competition 2024
- Washington DC Leaders Introduce Bill to Reduce Litter, Increase Recycling, Waste Advantage, January 20, 2025
- Some creatures eat and transform microplastics into a much bigger threat, earth.com, January 20, 2025
- What Happens When a Plastic City Burns? Most modern couches are basically blocks of gasoline, The Atlantic, January 15, 2025
- EU plastic waste exports to Asia, Turkey continue to rise, Plastics News, January 15, 2025
- Cities push for a role in plastics treaty, citing EPR, health issues, Plastics News, January 9, 2025
- Microplastics are widespread in seafood that people eat, study suggests, PHYS.ORG,, January 6, 2025
- Thailand bans plastic waste imports, Plastics News, January 3, 2025
- Microplastics found in multiple human organ tissues correlated with lesions, PHYS.ORG, December 30, 2024
- First-of-its-kind study uses remote sensing to monitor plastic debris in rivers and lakes, PHYS.ORG, December 19, 2024
- Plastics, glass, metal recyclers unite in call for joint EPR, bottle bills, Plastics News, December 19, 2024
- Scientists know our bodies are full of microplastics. What are they doing to us?, NPR, December 16, 2024
- Plastics Index Shows Supply Chain Improvement Despite Production Slowdown, Plastics Technology, December 16, 2024
- US PET bottle recycling rate jumps in 2023, Plastics News, December 12, 2024
- Companies behind campaign to ‘end plastic waste’ produced 1,000 times more plastic than it cleaned up, Unearthed, November 20, 2024
- Is a ‘Green’ Revolution Poisoning India’s Capital?, The New York Times, November 9, 2024
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Help Locate Plastic-Fouled Coastlines
Each month we share an image of a beach fouled by plastic. To report a shoreline pervasively fouled by significant amounts of plastic debris, use our online plastic trash reporting app. Thank you!
This Month’s Coastal Hotspot: Phuket Island, Thailand
Image credit: REUTERS/Napat Wesshasartar
According to a January 16, 2025, article in Reuters, on Phuket Island, Thailand, “Plastic bottles and empty beer cans roll on the sea floor in the waters around Phuket in southern Thailand, while ever more garbage piles up on the island itself, a tourist hotspot better known for its pristine beaches and stunning sunsets.” Tourism contributes significantly to ocean plastic pollution in developing countries. According to Reuters, Phuket, Thailand's largest island, has undergone rapid development due to its tourism sector, a major driver of the Thai economy. Of the country's 35.5 million foreign arrivals in 2024, about 13 million headed to the island. More than 1,000 tonnes of waste are collected on Phuket every day, and the landfill has grown so large that for some residents “it has replaced the previous serene mountain view.”
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Solutions to the Ocean Plastic Crisis
See more solutions on our ocean plastic solutions page. Have a solution we should know about? Submit it here.
This Month's Featured Solution: PlanetCare Microfibre Filters
Image credit: PlanetCare
Microfibers are tiny fibers shed during washing cycles from synthetic clothing made with synthetic materials like polyester and nylon. The Ocean Conservancy estimates that microfibers account for 38.4% of all microplastics in the ocean. PlanetCare washing machine filters stop 98% of microfibers and also offer a completely closed loop for the captured fibers. The firm runs a free, worldwide return and reuse system, reusing 95% of the filters, recycling 5%, and upcycling waste materials into new products. Each filter comes with reusable cartridges. Cartridges fill up after approximately 30 washes and are replaced once they're full of microfibers, then sent back to the company to be refurbished for future use. The microfiber filter runs about $125, is easy to install, and can be attached to the washing machine without tools. Replacement cartridges are $8. During every wash, the filter traps fibers shed by synthetic fabrics, stopping them before they enter the water system.
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Meet the Experts and Leaders
OpenOceans Global is identifying ocean plastic experts from around the world. Here is an expert leading efforts to reduce plastic pollution that you should know about.
Charles Goddard, Editorial Director, Economist Impact
Image credit: The Economist
Charles Goddard is the editorial director for Economist Impact, a division of The Economist Group. He works closely with partners to catalyze progress on key contemporary issues, including ocean health and the sustainable ocean economy, global health security, and aging and longevity. Goddard imagines and builds the group’s flagship initiatives. Most notably, he created and is concurrently executive director of Economist Impact’s World Ocean Initiative, which supports the development of a sustainable ocean economy by addressing the greatest challenges facing our seas - climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution - and exploring the most effective action for a healthy blue planet. This work continues throughout the year and at the annual World Ocean Summit. The initiative seeks to address the wide gaps emerging within the "blue economy," which typically prioritizes growth over sustainability, even where there is an explicit intention to align the two. Plastic pollution is a subject that frequently emerges at the annual conference. Goddard also co-founded and co-leads Back to Blue with The Nippon Foundation, Japan’s largest philanthropic organization. This joint initiative between Economist Impact and The Nippon Foundation is working towards zero pollution in the ocean by 2050 and brings together organizations that share a common understanding of the need for evidence-based approaches to improving ocean health. Goddard is based in Sydney, Australia.
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