The Transition | May 2023
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 NBC7/39's Down to Earth segment and ArcNews.

Past issues of The Transition.

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OpenOceans Global Updates:

• In preparation for the United Nations plastic treaty negotiations, OpenOceans Global produced a white paper, “The Ocean Plastic Crisis – Mapping Source to Sea, Source Identification as a Solution.”
• Proposals and options for the treaty include all three elements of OpenOceans Global's platforms for sharing information, including: mapping plastic litter from land to water bodies, establishment of networks to promote information sharing and collaboration, and dissemination of best practices.
• Please see our official observer submission to the United Nations plastic treaty.

Taking a Deeper Dive

UN Plastic Treaty negotiations convene May 29 – June 2; what you need to know

The following information is from a series of six excellent webinars provided by the UN to prepare negotiators and accredited observers like OpenOceans Global. The many deserving attributions to this information can be found by reviewing the sessions.

On March 2, 2022, “175 nations agreed to develop a legally binding agreement on plastic pollution by 2024, prompting a major step towards reducing greenhouse gas emissions from plastic production, use, and disposal.”

The first session of the Plastic Treaty’s International Negotiating Committee (INC-1) took place at the end of November in Uruguay, resulting in "delegates addressing the scope, objectives, and structure of the instrument; potential elements of the instrument; standard articles on final provisions; and sequencing and recommended further work to be undertaken."

The second negotiating session (INC-2) convenes May 29 to June 2, 2023, in Paris and will focus on developing the content of the treaty.

Scope of the Problem

The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OEDC) estimates that plastic production and plastic waste will triple by 2060. The Pew Charitable Trusts estimates that ocean plastic will nearly triple from 11 million metric tons to 29 MT by 2040.

Image credit: OECD Global Plastics Outlook 2022

Options Developed for Consideration

INC-2 will review options for the following which are detailed in an options paper. These are the categories of options to be considered at the highest level.

• Objectives
• Core obligations
• Options for means of implementation, including:
  • Determining whether the provisions should be stand-alone or integrated
  • Financial assistance
  • Capacity building
  • Technical assistance
  • Technology transfer on mutually agreed terms
  • National reporting
  • Compliance
  • Assessment, monitoring, and evaluation
• Additional matters
  • Awareness-raising and education
  • Exchange of information
  • Research
  • Cooperation and coordination
  • Stakeholder engagement

Image credit: UNEP/Life Cycle Initiative

Science Informing Decision-Making Is Essential

The discussions recognize that science is an essential ingredient to strong policy and will lead to some of the following results:

• Strengthened waste management
• Eliminate the release and emissions of plastic to land, air, and water
• No or reduced plastics in the environment or people
• No or reduced direct or indirect impacts from manufacturing, use, and disposal of plastics
• No or reduced open burning of plastics
• No or reduced GHG emissions and action to mitigate climate change
• Reduced economic costs,
• Incentivizing new material, plastic, and/or products

An Open-Ended Working Group Will Inform Negotiators

An Open-Ended Working Group (OEWG) has been convened to inform negotiators and to:

• Identify issues of relevance to policymakers.
• Assess current issues and identify evidence-based options to address these issues.
• Provide up-to-date and relevant information, including gaps in scientific research.
• Facilitate information sharing with countries.

3,200 Chemicals in Plastic Are of Potential Concern

Image credit: UNEP/Chemicals in Plastic: A Technical Report

The UN has recognized the danger of chemicals in plastic, with 13,000 chemicals having been identified or detected in plastic and 3,200 that are of potential concern. Suggestions include counting plastic’s uncounted costs to human health, the environment, the global economy, and social justice across the entire plastic life cycle.

Control Measures Will Span Each Stage of the Plastics Value Chain

The plastics value chain is characterized as follows:

• Raw materials (hydrocarbons)
• Upstream (polymer pellets)
• Midstream (products and parts)
• Downstream (plastic waste or residues)
• Recovery (from land or water bodies)

A number of control and mitigation measures are being matched with each element of the value chain. They include options within these categories:

• Trade/border measures (such as quotas, tariffs, and export and import quotas and licenses)
• Internal market measures (such as phasing out subsidies, labeling, design, and quality standards)
• Reducing plastic waste
• Shifting from single-use to reusable products (consumers have more control over the impact of reusable products than single-use products)

Resource Mobilization and Financial Mechanisms

Funding to implement the plastic agreement will be critical to its success. Finding the appropriate resources will require understanding the gap between how much has been spent and how much money is needed. Who is going to pay for it? What is the balance of funding that can come from the global north and the global south? These are some of the options for funding that have surfaced.

• Public funds (i.e., World Bank, United Nations, national, state, and local governments)
• Private investment, including Extended Producer Responsibility revenues
• Philanthropy

The World Bank looks at the process through four “North Stars.”

1. Green economies should be financed, not just green projects. Financing should go to projects that enhance systems, not just short-term projects.
2. Change has to happen regionally, not just at the country level. Regional policies can encourage better results from big business and eliminate exploitation in countries with weak policies. What does a regional recycling market look like?
3. Public financing must be used to help the private sector. In Mexico – the World Bank is working to make sure the cost of recycling by private companies comes down.
4. Strong analytics are essential. What is the baseline? Where is the plastic pollution coming from? What are the pathways? Analytics must support and report on the progress of national action plans and regional policies.

Timeline for the Treaty Process

The negotiating committee plans to meet five times.

• INC-1 – 10/28 to 12/2, 2022, Host: Punta del Este Uruguay
• INC-2 – 5/29 to 6/2, 2023, Host: Paris, France
• INC-3 – 11/13 – 11/17, 2023, Offer to host: Nairobi, Kenya
• INC-4 – Early April 2024 – Offer to host: TBD, Canada
• INC-5 – October/November 2024: Offer to host: TBD, Republic of Korea

Side events, sanctioned and unsanctioned, will be held during each INC meeting. In addition, the United Nations Environment Assembly, which agreed to pursue the plastic treaty last year, will meet again the week of February 26, 2024, when the treaty will also be discussed.

The Delegates

2,690 delegates have registered for INC-2 in Paris, including:

• 179 member states (842 delegates)
• 703 stakeholder organizations (1,693 delegates)
• 20 UN entities (91 delegates)
• 11 IGOs (25 delegates) (IGOs are intergovernmental organizations)
• 27 media (29 delegates)

The meeting venue is limited to 1,500 delegates. Because there are 2,690 delegates, access is being controlled by 1,500 transferable access cards issued to each organization. Delegations will determine who should represent them on each day of the meetings.

Tracking Plastic News

• Plastic pervasive in food supply, says new study, PHYS.org, May 19, 2023
• UN targets 80% reduction in plastics pollution, Plastics News, May 16, 2023
• Recycling plastics might be making things worse, PHYS.org, May 8, 2023
• APR defends radio ads promoting plastics recycling, Plastic News, May 4, 2023
• Plastic Industry Greenwashing: Your Questions, Answered, Plastic Pollution Coalition, May 2, 2023
• Consumer brands push for tougher plastics treaty language, Plastic News, May 1, 2023
• Arctic ice algae heavily contaminated with microplastics, Science Blog, April 21, 2023
• G7 commits to ending plastics pollution by 2040, Plastics News, April 17, 2023

Mapping Plastic-Fouled Coastlines

See more beaches fouled by plastic on our ocean plastic trash map. To report a shoreline pervasively fouled by significant amounts of plastic debris, use our online plastic trash reporting form.

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This Month's Coastal Hotspot: Botafogo Beach, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Image credit: Stacker/lazyllam/Shutterstock

Rio de Janeiro’s Botafogo Beach in Guanajara Bay is one of the most plastic-polluted beaches on the planet. In addition to pollution from Rio de Janeiro's untreated sewage, mussels off the coast are also contaminated with microplastics. Even though Rio de Janeiro has banned plastic straws and stopped the free distribution of plastic bags, its beaches are still regularly fouled by plastic. The 2016 Summer Olympics brought international attention to Rio de Janeiro’s plastic pollution and sewage issues when events in Guanajara Bay were threatened by these water quality problems. The source of the plastic is litter from local streets and flows from untreated sewage. “Known for beautiful beaches, Rio de Janeiro has unfortunately had to ban its own residents from enjoying them due to the excessive pollution in Guanabara Bay,” according to a June 2019 story in Stacker. The problem isn’t isolated to Rio. Oceana Brazil estimates that Brazil contributes 325,000 tons of plastic to the ocean each year.

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:
AQUATIC PLASTIC: The transnational river cleanup handguide

Image credit: Danube Transnational Programme

With rivers considered to be the source of 80% of ocean plastic to the ocean, knowing how to stem the flow of plastic in rivers before it reaches the sea is critical. AQUATIC PLASTIC: The transnational river cleanup handguide, published by the Danube Transnational Programme, aims “to provide help to … professionals and enthusiasts alike … eager to participate in managing international plastic pollution in rivers.” The authors rely on scientific publications on riverine- and marine litter and their 10+ years of field experience organizing large-scale river cleanups on the rivers of the Eastern Danube River Basin. Their work has positively impacted river-based ecosystems and communities in as many as 6 countries. The publication provides a history of aquatic plastics, explores international river cleanup initiatives, provides a guide to river cleanup actions, lists technologies being used to intercept plastic in rivers, and shows a short selection of the products that can be created from selected riverine litter. The guide also shares how the “collection, sorting, and production process of these products can strengthen local communities, build stronger company teams and NGOs, aid in the development of new goods, and enhance education programs.”