Environmentalists have long evangelised the three R’s – Reuse, Redesign and Recycle – so why has the debate surrounding the UN Plastics Treaty so far been dominated by the least sustainable of the three? Dr Francis Oremo argues that a truly circular economy for plastics must support reuse and redesign and treat recycling as a […]
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This week UN negotiators from myriad nations meet to begin building the first Global Plastics. Dr Noreen O’Meara takes a critical look at some of the key players and coalitions, where they differ, where they agree and what they bring to the table. Leading up to the negotiations for a proposed UN Global Plastics Treaty […]
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Change is an inherently disruptive process and the upcoming UN treaty on plastic pollution promises urgent, profound and global change on an unprecedented scale. History shows us that it is the poorest and most marginalised members of society who suffer most from such disruption, so what does this mean for the 20 million waste pickers […]
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To manage plastic waste the UN plastics treaty must be able to measure it, but are current systems for tracking the global trade of plastic trash and the polluting chemicals it contains up to the job? In the first of a new series of blogs, Shashi Kant Yadav explains why the devil is in the […]
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In its rush to introduce a single-use plastic ban India risks creating legislation that covers only a tiny proportion of polluting products and penalises small enterprises whilst leaving big business unscathed. Governing Plastics Network researcher Shashi Kant Yadav argues that to make a difference legislation in developing countries must address plastic not as a product […]
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As the world’s fourth-largest producer of plastic waste, Brazil faces an uphill battle, with only an estimated 1.28% of the 11.4 million tons of waste it produces annually being recycled. In partnership with the University of Surrey and Wollongong, researchers from the University of São Paulo, in Brazil, have released a new web documentary looking […]
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