Plastic pollution causes more than $1.5 trillion in health-related economic damage each year and contributes to disease and death at every stage of life, according to a new review published on Sunday in the medical journal The Lancet.
“The world is in a plastic crisis,” the authors wrote. “But it is not inevitable.” They urge science-based, cost-effective policy interventions, including regulations, enforcement, and financial incentives, similar to those used to combat air pollution and lead exposure.
The findings come just as UN-led negotiations to finalise a global plastics treaty resume in Geneva.
Calling plastics a “grave and growing” threat to both human and planetary health, the review warns that plastic production is accelerating.
According to the study, plastic production has skyrocketed from just 2 million metric tonnes in 1950 to 475 million tonnes in 2022 and is projected to reach 1.2 billion tonnes by 2060.
Meanwhile, 8 billion tonnes of plastic waste have accumulated in the environment, most of it still lingering in ecosystems due to its resistance to biodegradation. Less than 10 percent of plastic is ever recycled.
The publication comes as global negotiations resume this week in Geneva for the second part of the fifth session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC-5.2).
From August 5 to 14, delegates from more than 170 countries will attempt to revive momentum toward a legally binding agreement to curb plastic pollution.
