In This Issue: (links to articles)
 

• Deeper Dive: Problematic, Unnecessary, and Avoidable Plastic Products
• Tracking Plastic News
• Coastal Hotspot: Kamilo Beach, Big Island, Hawaii
• Featured Solution: Precious Plastic
• Expert: Karen Raubenheimer, Australian National Centre for Ocean Resources and Security
• Expert: Diana Barrowclough, UNCTAD Globalization and Development Division

Taking a Deeper Dive

 

New Report Provides Global Criteria to Address Problematic, Unnecessary, and Avoidable Plastic Products

Countries in which at least one plastic product is banned or restricted at the national or regional level. Image credit: Nordic Council of Ministers

One of the key approaches to addressing plastic pollution is to understand the problematic, unnecessary, and avoidable plastic products (PUA) that can be removed from the plastic supply chain. The issue was addressed in a January 24, 2024, report by the Nordic Council of Ministers (co-authored by one of this month's experts, Karen Raubenheimer).

PUA Definitions:

• Problematic plastic products - have adverse impacts across the life cycle of the products (environmental and human health).
• Unnecessary plastic products - have a function that is not essential because they do not provide significant added value to society.
• Avoidable plastic products - have a function that is essential, but demand for the product can be reduced through non-plastic substitutes, alternate designs, and alternate practices.

The report lays out two main goals:

• Goal 1 – Reduce production of plastics through the removal of unnecessary products from the market, replacement with safe non-plastic substitutes, and alternate business practices.
• Goal 2 – Sustainable and safe management of plastics that remain on the market through redesign according to sustainability criteria, including safe alternatives and circular business practices.

The report contains a decision tree that provides a logical way of thinking about these plastic products and what to do about them to achieve these two goals.

Image credit: Nordic Council of Ministers

The report assumes that the international plastic treaty process will establish a Secretariat to administer the treaty outcomes. One of those roles would be to develop a global database for products considered problematic, unnecessary, and avoidable. Criteria would be developed to stimulate the identification of these products at two levels:

• Mandatory measures for listed products: At the international level, criteria provide the basis for identifying, nominating, and listing products. Once a product is listed, mandatory control measures could include three elements.
  • Bans and restrictions for products listed at the global level.
  • Trade measures between treaty signatories and non-signatories of listed products.
  • Time-restricted exemptions for products as deemed necessary on a case-by-case basis.
     
• Voluntary measures for non-listed products: At the national level, nations may use global criteria to voluntarily identify additional products not listed or regulated by the treaty to strengthen national actions.

The current lack of global regulation for plastic products highlights the urgency of understanding how listings can be supported by collaboration between researchers and policymakers. Given the pervasiveness of plastic, the report suggests that the determination of PUAs be made proactively and suggests a five-step model.

Potential criteria for problematic plastic products

These are the criteria, by category, for determining whether a plastic product should be listed.

1. Hazards

• Contains chemicals or polymers of concern, including those derived from secondary plastics, or represents a health or environmental hazard.
• Releases nano-, micro-, and macro-plastics during its production, intended use, or end-of-life.
• Releases chemicals of concern during its intended use.
• Is falsely promoted to be biodegradable under certain conditions.
• Tends to be dispersed to the environment due to direct application in nature.

2. Impediment of circularity

• Is non-recyclable per established recyclability criteria.
• Has a high likelihood of not being collected and of not being properly disposed of or managed.
• Does not comply with existing labeling schemes to guide correct end-of-life treatment, (including for easy identification, sorting and separation), impeding circularity, and leading to avoidable production of the product.

3. Lack of transparency

• Lacks data to determine safety for the environment and human health across the full life cycle.

Potential criteria for unnecessary plastic products

1. Feasible and safe modified/alternate practices are available or possible to eliminate the need for the plastic product.

2. Has plastic components that can be removed without requiring a replacement or compromising the primary function of the product.

Potential criteria for avoidable plastic products

1. Availability of alternate practices

• A feasible reuse or refill business model is available or can be developed.
• A feasible remanufacturing business model exists or can be developed.
• The lifespan of the product can be extended, e.g. through the right to repair, removing early obsolescence, and the provision of sharing services that also reduce associated waste generation.

2. Availability of non-plastic substitutes

• Can be replaced completely with a nature-based product.
• Can be produced using a non-plastic substitute material.

3. Availability of alternate design

• Options for improved resource efficiency exist or can be developed, including extending the longevity of the product.

More details about the criteria, including examples for each criterion, are available in the report.

Capacity Building

The report notes that it will be important to address the need for capacity building, especially for developing countries, to ensure they can effectively participate in the proposal submission and review process. This could include technical assistance, training programs, and resource sharing.

Ultimately, the report contributes to the development of control measures for problematic, unnecessary, or avoidable plastic products under the international legally binding treaty on plastic pollution, including in the marine environment. This research will help develop those control measures.

Tracking Plastic News

• New York City Is Considering a Laundry Pods Crackdown, Bloomberg Green, February 8, 2024
• An enzyme used in laundry detergent can recycle single-use plastics within 24 hours, Phys.org, January 29, 2024
• New Analysis From The Recycled Rubber Coalition Quantifies Anticipated Scrap Tire Surge Caused by Growing Adoption Of Electric Vehicles, Waste Advantage, January 26, 2024
• A large percentage of European plastic sent to Vietnam ends up in nature, finds study, Phys.org, January 24, 2024
• More important than nano plastics in water bottles are the chemicals attached to them, Los Angeles Times, January 18, 2024
• Plastics Industry Association Releases 2023 Industry Recap, Waste Advantage, January 6, 2024
• Reimagine, reuse, recycle: How to reach sustainable packaging targets in retail, McKinsey & Company, December 14, 2023
• Plastics Industry Association Releases Global Trends Report, Underscores Strong Global Demand for Plastics, Plastics Industry Association, November 8, 2023
• Scientists find a closed-loop recycling process for one of the most widely used plastics, Phys.org, January 31, 2024

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!

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This Month’s Coastal Hotspot: Kamilo Beach, Big Island, Hawaii

Image credit: Huffington Post / Megan Lamson

Kamilo Beach on the Big Island of Hawaii is located at the southeasterly end of the island, away from populated areas. However, it has become iconic as a place that collects trash from the deep ocean and is known by some as Plastic Beach. The trash reaches the island’s shores and Kamilo Beach because of its position on the southern edge of the Pacific Gyre. A September 2023 cleanup removed one ton of plastic from this remote shoreline.

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.

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This Month's Featured Solution: Precious Plastic

Image credit: Precious Plastic

Precious Plastic aims to boost plastic recycling worldwide by providing tools and resources on how to build a low-cost plastic recycling and manufacturing shop. Particularly valuable in the developing world, where recycling capabilities may not be accessible, designers and artisans can collaborate with waste pickers in the informal sector to manufacture new and useful products on the ground using 100% local recycled plastics. Precious Plastic is a free resource started in 2013 and now counts on the contributions of dozens of people joining the project with their skills and knowledge. It has made a series of instructional videos to teach people about transforming plastic waste into valuable products, from how to separate different types of plastics, to building machines (shredders, extrusion, injection, and compression machines) to the best ways to collect plastic. Note: Summary from WWF's Plastic Smart Cities.

Meet the Experts and Leaders

OpenOceans Global is identifying ocean plastic experts from around the world. Here iare two experts leading efforts to reduce plastic pollution that you should know about.

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Karen Raubenheimer, Senior Lecturer, Australian National Centre for Ocean Resources and Security

Image credit: Paul Jones / Unsplash

Karen Raubenheimer is a Senior Lecturer at the Australian National Centre for Ocean Resources and Security (ANCORS) at the University of Wollongong, which she joined in 2017 after completing her Ph.D. from ANCORS. Her thesis analyzed measures to prevent ocean- and land-based sources of plastic pollution and reviewed the feasibility of a new legally binding international agreement and a global funding mechanism. She presented a possible model for such an agreement to the United Nations and was contracted by UNEP to conduct a further assessment of the effectiveness of international and regional regulatory frameworks to prevent marine litter and microplastics. She has been involved in the Ad Hoc Open Ended Expert Group meetings and the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC) for the negotiation of a legally binding global agreement to end plastic pollution. She also developed a regional marine litter action plan design guide for UNEP and was involved in developing marine litter guidelines for the APEC region. Raubenheimer is the author or co-author of a number of plastic-related reports, including: Combating marine plastic litter and microplastics: An assessment of the effectiveness of relevant international, regional and subregional governance strategies and approaches, Possible elements of a new global agreement to prevent plastic pollution, Science-Policy Interface for Plastic Pollution, Global governance of plastics and associated chemicals, and Global criteria to address problematic, unnecessary, and avoidable plastic products (see Deeper Dive above). She holds a Masters of Environmental Management from the University of New South Wales and has a background in Information Technology. While working at Surfrider Foundation Australia, she coordinated corporate beach cleanups.

Diana Barrowclough, Senior Economist, UNCTAD Globalization and Development Division

Image credit: Engineering News / Duane Daws

Diana Barrowclough is a senior economist at the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) in the Globalization and Development Division. Her research interests focus on the interface between public and private sectors and how multilateral policy measures can help address global problems that are too difficult for nations to solve alone. Her current work on plastic aims to help mobilize resources to reduce plastic pollution and to support system change to a less polluting and fossil-fuel-dependent future. She is also the author or co-author of several related publications, including: Transforming the Global Plastic Economy, The Role of Economic Policies in the Global Governance of Plastic Pollution, Global trade in plastics: insights from the first life-cycle trade database, Banks, Bonds and Petrochemicals: Greening the Path from the Copenhagen Agreement, and Plastic Production and Trade in Small States and SIDS: The Shift Towards a Circular Economy. Barrowclough says we need an international plastic treaty because the plastic industry is growing so fast, and 75% of plastic production ends up as waste. “The market is good at creating new products,” she says. “But it has also been effective at producing substitutes for plastic. A critical element for [plastic] treaty negotiators will be how to phase out plastic production in developing countries for whom plastic exports or imports have become an important part of their livelihoods and are deeply embedded into their economies. We need mechanisms to help them transform and develop in ways that are feasible and just.” Before joining the UN, Barrowclough lectured in economics at the University of Cambridge, where she was a Fellow of St John’s College. She has a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Cambridge and an MA and a BA in economics and political science from the University of Auckland.