But the threat is not limited to marine spaces or to the issue of waste alone; it is multi-faceted. Throughout their life cycle (from the extraction of the fossil fuels needed for their manufacture to their disposal), plastics (of which there are over 4,000 types) represent a global danger to the environment, health and climate.

After years of stalling, the international community finally seems determined to tackle the issue. From May 29 to June 2, Paris is hosting the second round of negotiations aimed at drawing up a legally binding global treaty by 2024. The ambition is on par with the threat: "Put an end to plastic pollution."

Over 350 million tonnes of plastic waste (equivalent in weight to 350 million cars) are generated worldwide each year. This staggering figure is projected to triple by 2060, exceeding 1 billion tonnes, according to estimates from the United Nations Environment Program. It is estimated that about 80% of plastic products end up as waste within a year of production.

For the year 2019 alone, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) estimated that, out of 460 million tonnes produced, 353 million tonnes became waste. A very small portion is recycled (9%), nearly half is dumped in landfills and 19% is incinerated. The rest (22%) ends up in the environment as macroplastic fragments (88%) and microplastics (less than 5 millimeters) and nanoplastics (less than 1 microgram) as they degrade (a thousand years for a bottle). In total, over 8 billion tonnes of plastic waste have accumulated on the surface of the Earth since the 1950s, as if the globe was entirely covered with a half-centimeter film of plastic.

But plastic pollution is not limited to waste. Plastics pollute throughout their lifecycle: As they age, plastic particles used in buildings, textile fibers from clothes or rubber from tires degrade into micro and nano plastics and end up in the atmosphere. This uncontrolled pollution affects every corner of the planet, right up to the summit of Mount Everest, in the 11,000-meter-deep Mariana Trench, in the deserts and on the Antarctic ice floe. The quantity of airborne microplastics observed in Arctic zones has increased 20-fold over the last decade.

In less than a century, humanity has become addicted to plastic. Whether it's food packaging, toys, clothing, electronics, cosmetics or medical implants, plastic is everywhere. It is the third most manufactured material in the world, after cement and steel. Since 1950, about 10 billion tonnes of plastic have been produced worldwide, mainly from the 2000s onward. Global production doubled between 2000 and 2020, reaching 460 million tonnes per year by 2060.

 Guest Editorial