We are just three-quarters of the way through the year, but the earth has already produced too much plastic waste. What needs to be done?
ADVERTISEMENTDid you know that more than 220 million tonnes of plastic rubbish will be generated in 2024?
5 September marks Plastic Overshoot Day, the point in the year when humanity's plastic waste surpasses the capability of waste management systems to handle the quantities produced.
Since last year, Swiss NGO Earth Action has released a Plastic Overshoot Day report and, in 2024, it has revealed that 66 per cent of the global population live in areas where plastic waste has already exceeded the local waste management capacity.
The report comes ahead of a final round of negotiations in November in South Korea, with the aim of developing an international legally binding treaty on plastic pollution.
At the event, Earth Action will be working with corporations and delegates to push for that treaty.
How bad is the plastic waste situation worldwide?
Currently, just 12 countries are responsible for 60 per cent of the world’s mismanaged plastic waste, with the top five being China, Russian Federation, India, Brazil, and Mexico.
No country on the planet is innocent of producing waste, with around 28 kg generated globally on a yearly basis and, since 2021, that figure has risen 7.11 per cent.
The earth doesn’t have the capacity to deal with all of the plastic and, according to the report, one third will be mismanaged at the end of its life. That amounts to 69.5 million tonnes of plastic existing in nature.
What did the report discover about plastic waste?
This year’s Plastic Overshoot Day report also factored plastic waste from the textile industry and household waste into its analysis as opposed to plastic packaging waste alone, which was the only factor included in its inaugural report.
Despite an improvement in actual plastic waste management practices, meaning that the Day has been moved to the 5th rather than the 4th last year, the overall quantity of mismanaged plastic waste remains more or less unchanged due to increasing plastic waste production every year.
That means, in theory, that there are 117 days of plastic overshoot - which lays bare the fact that the plastic waste produced from 5 September until the end of 2024 will likely be poorly managed across the globe.
In contrast, well-managed plastic is plastic that is managed in a way that minimises environmental impact. It can be achieved by various means, but the most significant tend to be recycling and designing plastics for recyclability, decreasing the amount of plastic used in order to reduce plastic pollution and emissions and reusing plastic and eliminating unnecessary packaging.
Earth Action has warned that any improvements in waste management capacity are frequently outpaced by rising plastic production. They believe that the assumption that recycling will “solve the plastics crisis” is fundamentally flawed.
“Plastic Overshoot Day should serve both as a testament to our current trajectory and as a blueprint for necessary action. The decisions made today will echo through ecosystems and economies for generations,” Sarah Perreard, Co-CEO, at Earth Action & Plastic Footprint Network says, “A business-as-usual approach to solving the plastic crisis will only worsen its effects.”
What is the solution to the plastic waste crisis?
“The necessity for change is founded in the need to protect the environment and our health, but the risk of inaction to business is often overlooked - profit as well as the planet will be a victim of this crisis,” Perreard adds, “Many corporations and [Small and medium-sized enterprises] SMEs are taking steps to account for their plastic footprint and instil circularity through supply chains. It is this corporate action, collaboration and regulation through an effective UN Treaty that will deliver change.”
ADVERTISEMENTThat Treaty will represent the world’s first comprehensive effort to regulate plastic, with its objectives ranging from curtailing production of unnecessary plastics, to banning specific chemicals and establishing ambitious recycling targets.
Earth Action works with international businesses, governments and SMEs to assess the impact of plastics through their supply chains and advise them on transitioning towards circular business models.
It is also the founder of the Plastic Footprint Network, a collection of over 35 global organisations including Decathlon, WWF, Mars and Breitling.
“Today is a stark reminder that the time for change is now. The numbers are clear - three-quarters of the way through the year, we have already exhausted our ability to hold back the plastic tide,” Nicolas Rochat, Founder at Mover Plastic Free Sportswear says, “Continuing down this path of uninhibited plastic production is unconscionable and threatens the prosperity of both businesses and humankind.”
ADVERTISEMENT"So-called solutions such as recycling plastics will only increase the physical and chemical plastic pollution. It’s time to move beyond temporary fixes and invest in innovative, non-polluting alternatives across supply chains that will future proof us against impending catastrophe,” he adds.
“Our planet can no longer afford the cost of inaction nor the cost of perpetuating the problem.”
