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International negotiations, in addition to ASU efforts, point toward solutions to ‘wicked’ plastic problem
Plastic pollution threatens environmental, economic and human health. Ongoing efforts offer a more hopeful path forward.
As a year of climate extreme records comes to a close, it becomes more and more apparent that the future is ours to shape — and the actions we take matter.
One opportunity for action is an ongoing effort toward establishing a global treaty to end plastic pollution. In November, government representatives came together in Busan, in the Republic of Korea, for a fifth round of negotiations. These negotiations took place Nov. 25-Dec. 1, with continuing negotiations to occur in 2025. An established treaty could determine how we produce and dispose of plastics in the future.
Tyler Eglen, a portfolio manager at the Rob and Melani Walton Sustainability Solutions Service at Arizona State University, has been paying close attention to the progress of the treaty. Eglen helped create and now manages the Circular Living Lab, dedicated to sustainable solutions for an ethical circular economy. Eglen said a legally binding agreement would offer a novel approach to tackling the overwhelming plastic problem.
“We’re absolutely in a plastic crisis,” said Eglen. “Plastic production continues to increase year over year, and that’s one of the things the treaty is trying to solve.”
According to the United Nations Environment Programme, a “business-as-usual” plastic scenario with no interventions could nearly triple the amount of plastic waste entering aquatic ecosystems. These numbers would increase from 9–14 million metric tons per year in 2016 to a projected 23–37 million metric tons per year by 2040. A metric ton is equivalent to 2,204.6 pounds.
Please change to “This fifth round of negotiations was originally slated to finalize an international, legally binding instrument on plastic pollution, including in the marine environment. However, it was determined in Busan that continued conversations are required. The previous sessions have taken place across the past two years in Punta del Este, Uruguay; Paris, France; Nairobi, Kenya; and Ottawa, Canada.
Eglen said negotiations of this scale require consideration for practical implementation of solutions. Each negotiator comes to the table with their own unique set of priorities; each country has their own set of consumer habits and needs.
In the United States, there is no national policy for recycling. Efforts are typically disjointed from state to state, so meeting a set of goals posed by a global treaty will naturally present a series of unique challenges. However, the in-progress agreement is not the only way to get closer to a circular economy. Eglen said there is immense value in keeping plastic in use within local communities.
“We can’t solve the whole plastic crisis alone here at ASU, but we can strengthen our efforts on a local scale,” he said. “We’re trying to get people to think differently about the values of plastic. Repurposing and reusing the plastics keeps the plastic local. That way, we’re not creating more greenhouse gas emissions by transporting plastic all over the world or giving it the opportunity to end up in the ocean.”
Earlier this year, ASU partnered with the city of Phoenix, Goodwill and a workforce development organization, Hustle PHX, to launch the ASU Circular Plastics Microfactory. The microfactory will take sorted local plastic waste and process it into pellets. These pellets can then be turned into a wide variety of products. The facility, a project based out of the Circular Living Lab, could save up to 550 tons of plastic from the landfill per year.
“What’s beautiful about this microfactory is that we’ve taken a wicked problem and made it local,” Eglen said. “We’ve defined and targeted the problem in a specific area where we know we can make a measurable impact. As soon as you do that, you get other people excited about it. When that excitement grows and you have more and more local projects attacking the overall wicked problem, you start really moving the needle.”
Calling ASU community members: Do you have excess laboratory plastics? Contact Tyler Eglen for more information on participating in a recycling pilot program.
