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Only 9% of plastic waste recycled worldwide, says OECD

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Agence France-Presse

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="A woman picks up plastic cups along the riverbank of Pasig river, in Manila, June 10, 2021. Lisa Marie David, Reuters/file" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2022/reuters/02/22/20220222_global-plastic-treaty-poll.jpg"/><figcaption>A woman picks up plastic cups along the riverbank of Pasig river, in Manila, June 10, 2021. <em>Lisa Marie David, Reuters/file</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>Less than 10% of the plastic used across the world is recycled, the OECD said Tuesday, calling for &quot;coordinated and global solutions&quot; ahead of expected talks on an international plastics treaty.</p><p>A new report by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development report found that 460 million tonnes of plastics were used in 2019, the number nearly doubling since 2000.</p><p>The amount of plastic waste had more than doubled during that time to 353 million tonnes, the Paris-based OECD said.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/business/09/01/21/price-tag-on-the-planet-helping-business-value-nature">Price tag on the planet? Helping business value nature</a></li></ul><p>&quot;After taking into account losses during recycling, only nine percent of plastic waste was ultimately recycled, while 19% was incinerated and almost 50% went to sanitary landfills,&quot; it said in its Global Plastics Outlook.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/spotlight/02/16/22/chemical-pollution-over-earths-safe-limit-study-shows">Plastic, chemical pollution beyond planet’s safe limit: study</a></li></ul><p>&quot;The remaining 22% was disposed of in uncontrolled dumpsites, burned in open pits or leaked into the environment.&quot;</p><p>The COVID-19 pandemic saw the use of plastics drop by 2.2 percent in 2020 compared to the previous year. However, single-use plastics rose and overall use is &quot;projected to pick up again&quot; as the economy rebounds.</p><p>Plastics contributed 3.4% of global greenhouse emissions in 2019, 90% of it from &quot;production and conversion from fossil fuels&quot;, the report said. </p><p>In the face of rampant global warming and pollution, it is &quot;crucial that countries respond to the challenge with coordinated and global solutions&quot;, OECD secretary-general Mathias Cormann said in the report.</p><p>The OECD proposed a series of &quot;levers&quot; to address the issue, including developing the market for recycled plastics, which only represent six percent of the total -- largely because they are more expensive.</p><p>It added that new technologies related to decreasing the environmental footprint of plastic represented only 1.2% of all innovation concerning the product.</p><p>While calling for &quot;a more circular plastics lifecycle&quot;, the OECD said that policies must also restrain overall consumption.</p><p>It also called for &quot;major investments in basic waste management infrastructure&quot;, including 25 billion euros ($28 billion) a year to go towards efforts in low and middle-income countries.</p><div><strong>- Plastic treaty talks -</strong></div><p>The report comes less than a week before the UN Environment Assembly begins on February 28 in Nairobi, where formal talks are expected to begin on a future international plastics treaty, the scope of which will be discussed.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/spotlight/09/08/21/greenpeace-asks-online-stores-to-cut-down-plastics-use">As holidays draw near, Greenpeace urges e-commerce sites to cut down on plastics use</a></li></ul><p>Shardul Agrawala, the head of the OECD&#x27;s environment and economy integration division, said Tuesday&#x27;s report &quot;further accentuates the need for countries to come together to start looking towards a global agreement to address this very important problem&quot;.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/overseas/08/28/21/single-use-plastic-plates-cutlery-cups-face-uk-ban">Single-use plastic plates, cutlery, cups may face ban in England, government says</a></li></ul><p>Asked about the priorities of the treaty to be discussed in Nairobi, she said that &quot;there is an urgent waste management problem which is responsible for the bulk of the leakage to the environment&quot;.</p><p>&quot;But we should not limit our focus just to the end of pipe solutions, there is a greater need in the long term to forge international cooperation and agreement towards alignment of standards,&quot; she told an online press briefing Monday.</p><p>In a survey published Tuesday by polling firm Ipsos for the World Wildlife Fund, 88% of respondents stressed the importance of an international treaty to combat plastic pollution.</p><p>In the 28 countries surveyed, 23% of the respondents said such a treaty was &quot;fairly important&quot;, 31% said it was &quot;very important&quot; and 34% found it &quot;essential&quot;.</p><div><strong>RELATED VIDEO</strong></div><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" frameBorder="0" height="100%" id="ivsplayer01" scrolling="no" src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/html/iframe-src.html?iframeid=ivsplayer01&amp;key=e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603&amp;spid=3001339&amp;vid=	1656320" width="100%"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more in <a href="//www.iwantv.com.ph/">iWantv</a> or <a href="//tfc.tv/">TFC.tv</a></div>

A new report by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development report found that 460 million tonnes of plastics were used in 2019.