Less than 10% of the plastic produced in the world is recycled, warns the OECD on Tuesday, calling for a "global and coordinated" response, a week before a UN conference which could launch negotiations on an international treaty against this contamination.

According to a “global plastics outlook” report, compiled by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, of the 460 million tonnes (Mt) produced in 2019 worldwide, waste generation stood at 353Mt.

But, “only 9% of plastic waste was ultimately recycled, while 19% was incinerated and nearly 50% ended up in landfills.

The remaining 22% was dumped in uncontrolled landfills, burned in the open air or released into the environment,” the report points out.

The Covid-19 pandemic led to a slight decrease in use (-2.2%) in 2020, but an increase in the consumption of single-use plastics.

And global consumption “should rise again” with the rebound of the economy.

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Develop markets and innovation

In addition to the pollution caused, plastic was responsible for 3.4% of global greenhouse gas emissions in 2019, 90% for its production from fossil fuels, the report points out.

Gases that are responsible for the accelerating global warming according to scientists.

To deal with these double consequences in terms of pollution and climate “it will be essential that countries respond with global and coordinated solutions,” writes Mathias Cormann, head of the OECD.

The experts of the Paris-based organization therefore propose a series of "levers".

They recommend the development of markets for recycled plastics, which still represent only 6% of the materials used, in particular because the cost is often higher than that of primary production.

In particular, they suggest increasing the number of “extended producer responsibility” channels for waste management, or imposing minimum usage thresholds.

They also recommend developing innovation "to make the life cycle of plastics more circular", pointing out that only "1.2% of innovations related to plastics are of environmental interest".

But according to them, public policies must also aim to “contain the global consumption of plastics at the same time”.

Strengthen international cooperation

Finally, the report pleads for a strengthening of international cooperation in the face of a plastics market that is an integral part of globalization, with “an alignment of approaches in terms of design and regulations”.

Harmonization which also presupposes “massive investment in basic waste management infrastructure”, with international aid “to finance the cost, estimated at 25 billion euros per year in low- and middle-income countries”.

The OECD work is published less than a week before the opening of the United Nations Environment Assembly on February 28 in Nairobi, which is expected to formally launch talks on a future treaty on plastics, the exact extent of which remains subject to discussion.

Asked about the priorities of such an agreement, Shardul Agrawala, Head of the Environment and Economy Integration Division at the OECD, noted during a press briefing that "there is pressing issues of waste management responsible for the vast majority of pollution”.

But "we must not limit ourselves to downstream solutions, there is a greater long-term need to forge international cooperation for an alignment of standards to promote circularity and eliminate waste upstream", he said. insisted.

According to a survey made public on Tuesday, carried out for the NGO WWF by the Ipsos institute in 28 countries on all continents, on average 88% of those questioned consider it "fairly important" (23%), "very important" ( 31%) or “essential” (34%) the conclusion of an international treaty to combat plastic pollution.

Awareness ranges from 96% in Mexico or 95% in China, to 78% in the United States and 70% in Japan.

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