Global Plastics Treaty: Why Legacy Plastic Cleanup Is Essential
Negotiations on a Global Plastics Treaty continue this week in Ottawa, Canada. The Ocean Cleanup hopes for an ambitious treaty which addresses plastic pollution throughout its whole lifecycle, including legacy plastic already in the marine environment – from rivers, beaches and coastlines all the way to the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.
This week representatives from states, international organizations, major corporations, campaign groups and industry leaders – as well as The Ocean Cleanup – will gather for INC4: the fourth (of five) meetings to agree on an UN Global Plastics Treaty which could be transformational for our oceans.
The mission of The Ocean Cleanup is to rid the oceans of plastic, and we fully support all efforts towards a treaty which can accelerate this process. Our scientists and researchers have contributed data and learnings throughout the negotiations and our official ECOSOC Observer status allows us to actively contribute to the development of the treaty by sharing our knowledge and experience.
We focus on cleaning up ‘legacy’ plastics – plastic debris which is already polluting the environment. There are already millions of tons of legacy plastics in oceans and rivers. Until these are cleaned up, our oceans can never be free of plastic, no matter what efforts are made upstream and midstream.
