Plastic pollution is a 'ticking time bomb', Macron warns

Emmanuel Macron called for "putting an end to a globalized and unsustainable model" of plastic production and consumption, Monday for the resumption in Paris of negotiations on a future global treaty against this widespread pollution. "If we do nothing, the generation of plastic waste will triple again by 2060. Plastic pollution is therefore a time bomb at the same time as a scourge already present, "said the French president in a video message to representatives of 175 nations gathered at UNESCO headquarters until Friday.

According to the head of state, "we must definitively put an end to a globalized and unsustainable model that consists of producing plastic in China or in OECD countries, and then exporting it as waste to developing countries, which are less well equipped with waste treatment systems."

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The primary objective must be to reduce the production of new plastics and to ban as soon as possible the most polluting products - such as single-use plastics - and the most dangerous to health, "says Emmanuel Macron.

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While "only 15% of plastic is recycled globally", "100% of plastics placed on the market must be fully recyclable tomorrow," he continues, pleading like fifty other countries for an end to plastic pollution by 2040. "We also need to give ourselves the means to innovate stronger, and faster, to replace plastic with truly ecological alternatives." And he believes that it is necessary to "better share solutions, technologies, and ensure solidarity with the poorest countries".

Negotiations are delicate between countries with divergent ambitions, to try to reach a historic agreement covering the entire life cycle of plastic. The President of the Republic recalls "the objective of reaching an agreed text by the end of 2024, one year before the United Nations Ocean Conference in Nice".

Annual production has more than doubled in 20 years to 460 million tonnes (Mt). However, two-thirds of this global production has a short lifespan and becomes waste to be managed after one or a few uses. 22% are abandoned (landfills, open incineration or discharge into nature) and less than 10% is recycled.