The evidence and the historic record shows that plastic chemical recycling has failed for decades and will not contribute significantly to resolving the plastics crisis. IPEN members created these images to let delegates to the Plastics Treaty negotiations know that chemical recycling is a myth. At the end of 2023, IPEN announced the contest titled Chemical Recycling & Unicorns = a myth. There were of 31 submissions from 23 Participating Organizations (POs) IPEN is excited to announce the three winners:
The Plastics Treaty’s first Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC-1) met in Punta del Este, Uruguay from November 28 through December 2, 2022. IPEN ensured that voices from all regions in the global south were present in the meeting by supporting in-person participation by nearly 30 public interest participating organizations, and coordinated over 45 IPEN NGO members, working collaboratively to advance our views and promote the adoption of a Treaty that accounts for the threats to human health and the environment from chemicals in plastics.
The health and environmental impacts of plastics are a global crisis. Scientific evidence shows that we have broken through the “planetary boundaries” for chemical and plastics pollution, meaning that production and emissions may be threatening the stability of the entire global ecosystem.
See IPEN's Quick Views and other resources for the Plastics Treaty INC-1 here.
It has been estimated that 4.8-12.7 million tonnes of plastics enter the oceans every year. Plastics are made from carbon and chemicals and many of the chemicals can leach out from the plastics -- this means that plastic litter can act as carriers of toxic chemicals to remote regions.
Read our factsheet on the global spread of chemicals from plastics.
Research on PFAS and brominated dioxins shows ongoing health threats from toxic chemicals
Tuesday, 11 October 2022
New Orleans - At the Dioxin 2022 Conference beginning here on October 9, Dr. Jindrich Petrlik will present a recent study that demonstrates the failure of using high temperature approaches to eliminate wastes that contain the “forever chemicals” PFAS, and Valeriya Grechko will present another recent paper that found high levels of brominated dioxins in recycled plastic products purchased in eleven African, Arabic, and Latin American countries.
On Thursday the 6th of October, 2022, the first meeting of the ad-hoc open-ended working group (OEWG) on a Science-Policy panel on chemicals took place.
(Rome, Italy) A U.N. expert scientific review committee has evaluated two toxic, chemical additives found in many common plastics and has concluded the evidence of the substances harm to health and the environment qualify them for global elimination, recommending that the chemicals be listed under the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs).
Opinion article in The Standard by IPEN Communications Consultant Patricia Kombo
Thursday, 29 September 2022
Plastic pollution is visible and well documented, but we often overlook the invisible chemicals in plastics that are hazardous to people and the environment. Studies show that chemicals from plastics are linked to serious health problems (for more on health threats to Africa from plastics see the IPEN video at http://bit.ly/AfricaPlastic)
See the IPEN video showing how exports of plastics and plastic waste, mostly from wealthy countries, bring toxic chemicals to Africa, exposing children and families to harmful chemicals and poisoning the circular economy.
In May 2021, the X-Press Pearl cargo ship caught fire near the Colombo Harbor (about 9.5 nautical miles away from the shoreline) of Sri Lanka with container loads of hazardous chemicals on board. The spill and resulting chemical pollution are considered the worst man-made maritime disaster to have struck Sri Lanka.
