Plastic Removal Technologies (PRTs) promise to improve environmental quality by removing plastics from the environment, but they can also threaten biodiversity. Almost no environmental impact assessments (EIAs) are done on PRTs.
Unselective PRTs can alter habitats and catch plants and animals. Manual collection selectively removes plastic, but it is limited in efficiency and effectiveness. Municipalities and communities ultimately bear the burden of plastics removal. Some PRT examples are discussed in this fact sheet.
Document containing the Scientists’ Coalition’s responses to guiding questions set by the World Trade Organisation Dialogue on Plastics Pollution (WTO DPP). The responses to the guiding questions were prepared and presented at the WTO pre-plenary on 13th February and delivered orally by Richard Thompson (online) and Noreen O’Meara (in person in Geneva).
Letter sent to INC Bureau on behalf of the Scientists’ Coalition calling for protections and assurances for observer participation at INC 5.2, dated 11th February 2025.
This policy brief addresses the need for cutting plastic pollution at the source through upstream solutions to significantly decrease plastic pollution. To effectively combat the global plastics crisis, upstream measures must take center stage, as they address the problem at its source and create the necessary market incentives for sustainable alternatives. The brief outlines that cutting[…]
It is important to recognize that removal efforts alone cannot solve the plastic problem and that they fail to address the scale or wider issues of plastic pollution. The only sustainable, safe, long-term, and effective solution to the global plastics crisis is to significantly reduce, simplify and detoxify plastic polymers and products, and to establish[…]
The final INC meeting of the Plastics Treaty negotiation is rapidly upon us, and a new process with revived momentum is underway with the Chair’s non-paper. The Scientists’ Coalition for an Effective Plastics Treaty has been supporting delegates, negotiators and other actors in accessing robust, independent scientific evidence to support decision making, and we have[…]