The United Nations Environment Assembly adopted a resolution to create a treaty by 2024 to eliminate plastic pollution. Barbara Hendrie, director of UN Environment Programs North America, spoke. Talk to the Nelson InstituteThe titleThe UN Environment Programme North America: A Conversation on Tackling Environmental Problems (Including Plastic Pollution).
The resolutionIt is called End Plastic Pollution: Achieving an International Legally Binding Instrument. Its goal is to improve the design and consumption of plastic products and to manage plastic waste.
UNEP works closely with governments, many of them in the developing world, in order to address environmental problems in their countries. Hendrie stated that UNEP also helps to solve problems such as the climate crisis, loss of biodiversity, destruction natural ecosystems, and pollution and waste crisis.
Hendrie said plastic is extremely durable. Hendrie stated that plastic is extremely durable and will not be destroyed by the environment. It can last up to 1,000 years.
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Plastic it’s an incredible material. It’s durable, it’s diverse, it’s useful, Hendrie said. It’s a testament to human ingenuity, but actually its durability is part of the problem because plastic never really disappears when it’s in the environment.
8.3 billion tonnes of plastic are produced globally. Six billion tonnes of this plastic waste is found in the ocean. Hendrie estimates that 11 million tons of plastic enters the ocean each year. Hendrie predicted that plastic will be in greater numbers than fish by 2050.
The ocean holds between 50% and 80% oxygen in the atmosphere. Hendrie stated that plastic waste is broken down and releases toxins such as lead, mercury, and cadmium, which kill the organisms that make this oxygen.
Hendrie said that this isn’t just an issue for environmentalists or sea turtle lovers. This is about us, and it’s about health and the very air we breathe.
Hendrie is part of the senior management group The Mississippi River Plastic Pollution Initiativea collaboration with the mayors of the Mississippi River and community volunteers. To collect data about plastic pollution in rivers, volunteers use the Marine Debris Tracker application.
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Hendrie stated that the initiative aims to reduce plastic pollution in the Mississippi River. The project will also create the first ever plastic pollution map of Mississippi River to help communities address plastic pollution.
Hendrie stated that plastic water bottles, plastic wrappers, and plastic cigarettes are the main plastic pollutants.
Hendries’ talk was part Weston Roundtable seriesThe series discusses engineering, policy, and sustainability. The Center for Sustainability and the Global Environment collaborates with the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and the Office of Sustainability to produce the series. Psi Upsilon Foundation also assisted in the talk.
