When you buy a bottle of Coca-Cola or a Snickers bar, the price probably doesn’t break the bank. But what if the true cost of the plastic packaging is taken into account at the supermarket checkout? Say, for example, the cost to clean up the pollution from making that plastic, or the cost to manage the packaging when you throw it away? Or even the medical bills that rack up from human health threats connected with plastics? And let’s not forget the cost of damages inflicted on terrestrial and marine life, along with entire ecosystems. That receipt would be a mile long.
From November 25 to December 1, representatives from 175 countries are gathering in Busan, South Korea for the fifth and final round of negotiations on a global plastics treaty. The most hotly contested issue is whether or not the treaty will include binding targets on reducing plastic production. While the scientific consensus is that cutting production is essential to solving the environmental and health threats that it poses, some countries are concerned about potential negative impacts on their economies. However, research conducted by several of us in France and around the world in the fields of economics and environmental sciences suggests that countries should be concerned about the opposite: how failing to reduce plastic production could be an even bigger economic threat.
The relentless production of plastics is driving pollution with increasingly severe impacts, leading to substantial costs as the crises it triggers multiply. Regarding the climate, the plastics industry is estimated to have accounted for 5.3% of global greenhouse gas emissions in 2019. If no action is taken, these emissions could double or even triple by 2050. In terms of environmental damage, the impact on biodiversity is alarming. Microplastics, resulting from the breakdown of plastic waste, are now found in 26% of marine fish – a figure that has doubled over the past decade. And a human health crisis is already unfolding: for example, a 2010 estimate found that at least 1.8 million people in the European Union were suffering from illnesses linked to exposure to chemicals found in plastics. Given these statistics, reducing plastic production is becoming an environmental and public health imperative.
