Welcome to Higginson Strategy’s weekly round-up of international news relating to plastic pollution.
This week, the UN has set a date for the next round of Global Plastics Treaty negotiations after the previous talks ended in no agreement. A city-wide reusable cup scheme in Petaluma, California reached over a 50 per cent return rate, with participants including multinational chain Starbucks and brands including Coca-Cola. The fifth-largest US state of New Mexico is battling for a state-wide ban on single-use plastic bags after previous attempts in 2023 failed. Researchers from the University of Toronto believe paint has been severely underestimated as a microplastic pollutant. Finally, biologists in Amsterdam are using plastic in birds’ nests to identify the age of the birds, with one nest containing at least 10 generations of plastic waste.
UN sets date to finalise plastics treaty
The United Nations Environment Programme announced a new round of negotiations toward a global plastics treaty will take place from August 5th to 14th in Geneva, Switzerland, after countries failed to agree on the parameters of a final agreement last December in Busan, South Korea.
The fifth UN Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC-5) meeting intended to yield a legally binding global treaty in Busan was meant to be the final one, but countries remained far apart on the basic scope of a treaty. The most divisive issues included capping plastic production, managing plastic products and chemicals of concern, and financing to help developing countries implement the treaty.
Read more here.
Starbucks, PepsiCo and Coca-Cola see 51 per cent return rate with default reusable cups
Described as the first initiative to catalyse a city-wide reuse scheme in America, over thirty restaurants in the City of Petaluma in the State of California defaulted to serving consumers in reusable to-go cups at no extra cost. Closed Loop Partners who spearheaded the trial, reports that the project achieved a 51 per cent return rate, exceeding the 40-50 per cent system breakeven point.
Over 220,000 cups were returned across the twelve-week programme, with ‘minimal’ contamination found in the return bins. Of the unreturned cups, 24,000 were said to have been recovered from recycling streams by a local recycler, while ‘many’ respondents in a focus group admitted to keeping cups to be reused at home. A post-opinion poll found that 80 per cent of participants wanted the project to continue.
New Mexico moves towards statewide single-use plastic bag ban
The fifth-largest US state of New Mexico uses at least 330 million single-use plastic bags a year, according to the New Mexico Environment Department and the New Mexico Recycling Coalition. These bags are used for 12 minutes on average, but have a life expectancy of 1,000 years.
Now a Democratic bill for a statewide ban on plastic bags is moving closely towards a final vote in a second attempt for a state-wide ban following previous attempts in 2023. This bill would require stores to charge a 10-cent fee per paper bag, with three cents going to the store and the rest going to the municipality or county for litter reduction and outreach.
Read more here.
Paint linked to microplastics pollution
Researchers from the University of Toronto say paint has been severely underestimated as a microplastic pollutant because it can be difficult to identify, often showing up in studies as ‘anthropogenic unknowns’.
This latest research has aimed to identify such particles and based on computer modelling and believe that paint might be responsible for a large portion of the undefined microplastics. The study’s authors say it’s vital to devise and deploy more measures to reduce paint pollution, given the ubiquitous nature of paint.
Read more here.
Researchers use plastic nests to predict age of birds
For the first time researchers have studied the plastic found in birds’ nests to identify how the birds are. Biologists in Amsterdam revealed one nest found in a popular canal contains at least 10 generations of plastic with the deepest layers dating back to the early 1990s when coots, a common bird in the Netherlands, first started breeding in the city.
Traditionally the birds did not reuse their nest because it was made from plant material which would quickly fall apart, but researchers discovered that the birds were often reusing the bases of old nests because they were made of plastic and could withstand changing conditions.
Read more here.