Dear Reader,
| This week, the European Union has joined the Bridge to Busan declaration which aims to see the Global Plastics Treaty mandate a cap on plastic production. The US government has agreed to phase out the use of single-use plastics from all federal operations by 2035. Lithuania has banned single-use plastic at dine-in settings, mass events and beaches. Environmental campaign groups, MPs and Peers have put pressure on the UK’s Labour government to implement an all-in deposit return scheme by 2027. Finally, Barbados has launched a National Action Plan to end plastic pollution which aims to reduce plastic waste by 73 percent over the next 10 years. |
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John Higginson
Editor-in-Chief
Plastic Free Post
European Union signs Bridge to Busan Declaration to limit global plastic production
| At the last round of Global Plastics Treaty negotiations, several countries launched the Bridge to Busan Declaration on Plastic Polymers to rally parties in support of keeping the provision for addressing primary plastic polymers alive in the treaty text and building momentum for the fifth and final round of negotiations in Busan, Republic of Korea later this year. The European Union has joined this coalition signing the Declaration, which also aims to keep production rate proportionate to the vision of a circular economy for plastics, and to the Paris Agreement’s cap on global temperature increase. It is feared that, at its current rate, the world will miss targets to end plastic pollution and limit global average temperature rise to less than 1.5° Celsius, contradicting the Paris Agreement. |
Read more here.
US to phase out single-use plastic from federal operations
| The Biden administration announced it plans to phase out the use of single-use plastics from all federal operations by 2035, as part of its broader strategy to tackle plastic pollution. The White House said the new procurement policies are the latest domestic effort aimed at addressing plastic pollution. Environmental groups including Oceana have commented that given the US government is the world’s largest purchaser of goods and services, the move to phase out single-use plastics in favour of reusable or compostable products was significant and could help set a global trend in motion. |
Lithuanian parliament bans single-use plastic in dine-in settings
| The Lithuanian parliament has banned the free distribution of single-use packaging containing plastic at catering places, mass events, and beaches from the beginning of May next year. The distribution of single-use plastic dishes and utensils at mass events and beach catering will be prohibited, except when they will be distributed for a deposit, and all catering establishments will also have to offer reusable alternatives if the customer eats in. |
Read more here.
Environmental campaigners call for Defra to prioritise DRS
| Speaking at a Nature 2030 and Keep Wales Tidy Parliamentary event with environmental leaders, Liberal Democrats House of Lords Defra Spokesperson Baroness Cathy Bakewell said it was “essential” the deposit return scheme (DRS) was in place by 2027. The previous Conservative government was criticised by environmental campaigners after the scheme’s introduction was delayed until 2027. In April 2024, ministers confirmed their intention to exclude glass from the scheme despite 76 percent of the British public believing glass should be included in the proposed recycling initiative. |
Barbados launches new plan to tackle plastic pollution
| The government of Barbados has launched its new National Action Plan to end plastic pollution. The plan, developed in partnership with social enterprise Common Seas, sets out an ambitious, comprehensive roadmap to reducing Barbados’ plastic pollution by 73 percent over the next 10 years. According to Common Seas’ UN-endorsed Plastic Drawdown tool, over 500 tonnes of plastics escaped into the environment in just one year, impacting the natural environment, community health and polluting the island’s seas. |
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