UN Report Outlines Ways to Achieve 80% Reduction in Plastic Pollution

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): A newly published UN report outlines ways to achieve 80% reduction in plastic pollution by end-2040.

The report titled “Turning off the Tap: How the world can end plastic pollution and create a circular economy”, published by United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), suggests technical solutions for a circular plastics economy.

The report calls for a “system change” in the way the causes of plastic pollution are addressed. Such a change will not only help countries to end plastic pollution, but will also help create immense business and job opportunities. The new plastics economy is likely to create 700,000 additional jobs, improved livelihoods for millions of workers in informal settings and savings of around 1.3 trillion in direct public and private costs over the forecast period.

The report recommends to reduce the use of the most problematic and unnecessary plastics. The market transformation to circularity can be achieved only through three market shifts. The three focus areas are reuse; recycle and reorientation and diversification to sustainable alternatives to plastic. The systems change, along with necessary regulatory framework would result in a range of economic benefits and reduce damage to human health, the environment and the climate, the UN report said.