The Plastic Problem (Published 2023) (2024)

Plastic is truly ubiquitous. It’s in our clothes, our phones, our sunscreen. But also, increasingly, in marine food chains and immense, floating garbage patches in the oceans.

How do we fix this? Nations are trying to come up with an answer, and this year will be critical. Negotiations, which started last year and are scheduled to continue through 2023, will shape a plastics treaty expected by the end of 2024.

The talks will have to square two contrasting views of plastic: It’s a technological marvel that made a host of goods widely accessible and revolutionized medicine, but also a major contributor to climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution.

Rising consumption worldwide means the plastic waste that’s going into waterways is set to more than double, and perhaps more than triple, by 2040. Environmentalists fear production will only increase as the world quits oil and gas and fossil fuel companies pivot to plastic to sustain their profits.

Here’s what’s at stake.

How badly do we need plastics?

While it’s true that plastic is a key component in some very important things, such as medical devices, research shows that more than 40 percent of the plastic we use is packaging and generally single-use.

“Plastics are pervasive,” said Carroll Muffett, who heads ​​the Center for International Environmental Law and has been following the treaty negotiations closely. “But it’s not the same as saying they’re truly essential.”