Call for global ban on ‘high risk and unnecessary’ plastic items

Global conservation organisation World Wildlife Fund (WWF) is calling on governments to support global bans and phase outs of ‘high-risk and unnecessary’ plastic items – such as vapes, cigarette filters, cutlery, wet wipes, and microplastics – ahead of UN plastic pollution treaty talks taking place in Paris from 29 May.

New research – commissioned by WWF and conducted by Eunomia – reveals the most damaging plastic products and proposes global control measures to eliminate, reduce or safely manage and circulate these plastics.

WWF is calling for these measures to be included in the plastic treaty text – and introduced in Australia.

Australia has just announced a ban on all single-use, disposable vapes. But Kate Noble, No Plastics in Nature Policy Manager for WWF-Australia, said the situation on plastics locally remains a mess.

“Plastic bans vary from state to state, action on some of the most polluting products like cigarette butts is lacking, and we’re starting to see fossil fuel plastics being replaced with bio-based plastics, when we really need to be moving away from single-use products altogether,” said Noble.

“These require huge amounts of resources to make – oil, trees and energy – and become waste after minutes of use, straining our waste management systems and polluting our precious places.

“The plastic pollution treaty currently being negotiated by UN member states is a major focus for the Australian Government, which is great news for our environment and wildlife. But we don’t need to wait for a treaty to be a world leader in this space. We’re calling for a national approach to reducing plastic consumption and pollution that bans the most harmful plastics and chemicals, boosts our repair and reuse economy, and makes it easier for all Australians to make sustainable choices.”

Noble said Australia is a wealthy country, but we aren’t doing much better than the global average when it comes to plastic recovery and recycling.

Less than 10 per cent of plastic products are recycled globally. Australia is one of the biggest consumers of single-use plastic per person in the world, but recycles only 14 per cent of plastics. Globally, most of the plastic ever produced has reached the end of its life and been discarded.

“We’re locked into a system where we’re now producing quantities of plastic well beyond what any country can properly deal with, resulting in a plastic pollution crisis affecting the environment as well as society,” said Marco Lambertini, WWF Special Envoy.

“If we don’t take action right now, the situation’s only going to get worse. On our current trajectory, by 2040 global plastic production will double, plastic leakage into our oceans will triple and the total volume of plastic pollution in our oceans will quadruple.

“Plastic pollution is a global problem that requires a global solution. Negotiators must heed the guidance in this report and work together to create a treaty with comprehensive and specific binding global rules that can turn the tide on the plastic crisis.”

In 2022, WWF conducted a survey of more than 20,000 people which showed seven out of 10 support global rules to end plastic pollution. This shows there is overwhelming support for the plastic treaty to create binding global rules that apply to all countries rather than a voluntary global agreement where governments can choose whether or not to take action. The survey included a representative sample of 1000 Australians, and found that eight in 10 Australians support a range of global rules.

Upon adoption of the treaty, WWF is calling for an immediate ban on high risk plastic items such as unnecessary plastic fibres found in wet wipes, cigarette filters, tea bags; single-use items such as plastic cutlery, plates, cups, and disposable e-cigarettes; and microplastic additives.

Where an immediate ban isn’t feasible, the treaty should introduce measures that phase out products no later than 2035, introduce taxes, other economic instruments and standards to reduce or eliminate plastic use.

For high risk plastic that cannot be easily eliminated, safe circulation and management should be prioritised by targets, standards and minimum requirements on collection, reuse, recycling, disposal and recycled content as well as extended producer responsibility schemes.