From the 1960's onwards, the use of plastic polymers for packaging started increasing rapidly and after just 50 years the world, its rivers, and oceans were littered with millions of tonnes of plastic waste, increasing in volume with each passing year. More than 368 million metric tons of plastic are produced globally out of which two-thirds become trash after five years. The production of plastic products is projected to continue to rise to 1.1 billion metric tons by 2030 if current trends continue.

Is this a sustainable situation? Can we go on with business as usual with regard to plastic proliferation in the world in the name of growth and development?

Plastics are the largest, most harmful fraction of marine litter, accounting for at least 85% of total marine waste. By the middle of this century, the ocean will hold more plastic than fish if the trend is not reversed. No one can endorse this scenario where humankind and animals are forced to live in a world littered with plastic waste. We need healthy ocean and coastal ecosystems to store carbon and build resilience to climate change.

A complete circular economy around plastic is the most pressing and prioritised need of the planet to protect it from irreversible damage.

The solution lies in reducing problematic and unnecessary plastic use, redesigning the products and their packaging, and pushing for a market transformation towards circularity in plastics. As stressed by UNEP, this can be achieved by accelerating three key shifts – reorient and diversify, reuse, and recycle, – and concrete actions to deal with existing plastic pollution.

Reduction in the use of plastic can be achieved by redesigning the products, e.g. substituting dry products for liquified ones so that they don't need plastic containers. Reuse refers to the transformation to a ‘reuse society’ where reusing products and refilling them becomes the customary method rather than throwing them away. Reorient and diversifying refers to shifting the market towards sustainable alternatives, in the way products and packaging are produced, consumer demand, regulatory frameworks, and costs.

It is also an absolute must that when plastics are produced, they are designed to be recyclable in the market where they are sold, and that waste management and the recycling market become profitable ventures. Today, only 9% of plastics produced are mechanically recycled. It is also important to attach a social stigma towards littering and raise awareness in societies on........

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