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The Global Plastic Pollution Crisis
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This New Zealand policy analysis examines options for addressing the global plastic pollution crisis, recommending a hierarchy approach that prioritizes refusing and reducing plastic over recycling. It discusses New Zealand's responsibilities as a high per-capita plastic producer.
The management of plastic waste is a global problem which currently lacks a global solution. As one of the highest per capita producers of household waste in the developed world, New Zealand has a key role to play in addressing the plastics crisis at multiple levels of governance. This article analyses the various policy options available to the New Zealand government and offers a series of recommendations, including prioritising policy and investment at the top of the waste hierarchy (refuse, rethink, redesign, reduce and reuse); linking plastic waste to toxicological risk and commitments to carbon reduction targets; implementing global commitments domestically; and supporting a proposed international legally binding agreement that captures the full lifecycle of plastics and regulates the transboundary flows of plastic pollution.
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When a large batch of papers lands in the Atlas, we read through it and send a short write-up of what stood out.