Plastic Production and Pollution: Legal Responses to the Global Plastic Crisis

In Fall 2024, the Human Rights at Home Law Profs Blog is excited to feature a series of blog posts focusing on human rights and the environment written by students in the International Human Rights Clinic at UIC Law. This is the fifth post in that series. The first post can be accessed here. The second post is here. The third post is here. The fourth post is here.

By Mark Haddad, 3L at UIC Law

Imagine an infected world. Imagine that every meal and every drink is infected with invisible shreds of plastic, wreaking havoc on the planet. Microplastics have spread into every facet of the world, finding itself in the oceans, soil, food, and even human blood. The Global Plastics Treaty is an international effort designed to combat the impact of plastic pollution on the planet. World leaders have joined to create the Global Plastics Treaty under international law to combat climate change. This treaty will address the urgent need to reduce plastic waste and the challenges of regulating plastics globally.

Over 450 million tons of plastics are produced globally. Almost half of plastic waste ends up in landfills globally, with over a fifth being mismanaged as of 2019. Scientists estimate the ocean holds roughly 8 million metric tons of plastic as of 2010. This is extremely detrimental to human health and the environment for several reasons. Microplastics have recently gained relevance as they were first discovered in 2004 and found in human blood in 2022. Microplastics in the ocean are often mistaken for food and consumed by wildlife. When wildlife consume microplastics they suffer from delays in development, problems with reproduction, and difficulty in defending themselves against infections. Microplastics in humans are linked to DNA damage, organ dysfunction, metabolic disorders, immune disorders, and a variety of chronic diseases.

The Global Plastics Treaty is an international treaty with ambitions to end plastic pollution by 2040. This treaty has been in fruition since 2017, when expert groups began exploring options to end plastic pollution to address the issue of plastic pollution and establish comprehensive and legally binding measures to reduce global plastic waste and pollution. Some objectives of the treaty are to enhance recycling and transition toward a circular economy. While negotiations took place in November, the negotiations aimed to address the full life cycle of plastic, including its production, design, and disposal.

The final round of negotiations had four main focal points. They focus on global bans and phase-outs of harmful plastics and chemicals, worldwide requirements and product design standards, financial support, and considerations for adapting to evolving challenges. Plastic bans and phase-outs are crucial to reducing plastic pollution by reducing our reliance on plastic production. Worldwide requirements and product design standards aim to create uniformity in the production and disposal of plastics as well as ensure ethical and environmentally safe methods are implemented.

The treaty's goals of financial support and adaptations address the potential setbacks in treaty implementation. Financial support is crucial as the global shift from harmful plastics and wasteful practices to a circular economy comes with economic challenges. This impact on developing nations and industries worldwide must be prioritized to ensure all parties are willing to ratify the treaty. This treaty negatively impacts developing and industry-dependent nations in the short run by impacting their ability to remain competitive in the market, as the new regulations on plastics are likely to increase the costs of production. Financial support will be crucial to easing the impacts of transitioning to the new global system and limiting economic impacts. Additionally, the consideration for adapting to evolving challenges is safeguarding the treaty from potential future issues, which will help quell potential fears of states willingness to ratify.

Effective global cooperation to implement a treaty that limits the impact of plastic on our health and environment poses unique challenges. Economic consequences are expected, as industries will be pressured to find alternatives, which will likely come at higher costs. For example, eliminating single-use plastics could have serious implications for countries with export-dependent industries, such as oil-rich nations, and developing countries in general. This will likely come with pushback by impacted unless strategic measures are taken to ensure plastic-related trade concerns are at the forefront of the issue.

The Global Plastic Treaty is a landmark effort in its use of uniting nations to address concerns about the plastic crisis. This challenge is both environmental and deeply interconnected with human health and the economic well-being of many nations and industries worldwide. This will provide an opportunity to reimagine the global production of environmental hazards that can lead us to a clean future for future generations. The fifth set of negotiations, which took place on November 25, 2024, in Busan, Republic of Korea, did not reach an agreement. More negotiations are set to take place next year in 2025.