The United Nations Environment Programme recently released its latest report, "Cut Off the Roots: How the World Can End Plastic Pollution and Create a Circular Economy". The report shows that if countries and companies use existing technologies to make in-depth policy and market transformations, plastic pollution can be reduced by 80% by 2040.

The report highlights the actions and changes needed to end plastic pollution and create a circular economy, and points out that countries need to take active market initiatives and policy guidance based on the use of existing technologies. In addition, the next few years are crucial, and the world must halve plastic products and cut disposable plastic consumption to curb the increase in environmental pollution.

On April 19, 2023, local time, the beaches of Freedom Island in Paranaque, Manila, Philippines were piled with plastic garbage.

A report by Oxford University's "Seeing the World with Data" in 2021 showed that the Philippines poses the greatest threat to the world's ocean pollution. 80% of global marine plastic pollution comes from Asian rivers, and the Philippines accounts for one-third. Poverty has led the Philippines to become a "small bag economy", consuming nearly 163 million small bags every day, exacerbating marine plastic pollution in the region. As the country has failed to meet targets for improved waste management signed more than 20 years ago, large amounts of garbage are covering the land, clogging streams, piling up on coastlines and eventually flowing into the ocean.

Corazon Mercado (left) and her daughter Bea sit at home in Quezon City, Manila, Philippines, on April 15, 2023, local time. According to Corazon Mercado, "We can't afford big bottles or bulk necessities, we can only afford small bags of daily necessities."

Plastic waste generated by the Mercado family in a week in Quezon City, Manila, Philippines, on April 20, 2023, local time.

Different items wrapped in plastic are sold at a wet market in Quezon City, Manila, Philippines, on April 19, 2023, local time.

Dried fish wrapped in plastic bags at a wet market in Manila, Philippines, on April 19, 2023, local time.

Workers clean a creek clogged with plastic waste in Manila, Philippines, on April 15, 2023.

Plastic waste on the mangroves of Liberty Island, Paranaque, Manila, Philippines, on April 19, 2023.

The report describes the scale and nature of the changes needed to end plastic pollution and create a circular economy, providing reference information for government decision-making and business actions. It sets out a three-pronged plan based on reuse, recycling and diversification of material use to reduce plastic pollution overall by 80% and cut single-use plastic production in half by 2040.

Workers work at a toxic waste dump in Sylhet, Bangladesh, on January 2, 2023.

Plastic waste floats in the old city port after strong winds in Dubrovnik, Croatia, on February 27, 2023.

In 2020, the world generated about 238 million metric tons of short-lived plastic waste, such as packaging for goods. The report points out that a five-year delay in implementation could lead to an increase of 80 million metric tons of plastic pollution by 2040, and greenhouse gas emissions caused by plastics could account for 19% of global emissions.

On May 15, 2023, local time, in Gulmarg, India, people search for valuables in the garbage on the flower meadow.

Gulmarg, a famous ski resort. In summer, the resort is crowded with tourists who escape the heat and leave a lot of garbage. The accumulation of garbage poses a serious threat to the alpine ecology and also to the glacial stream water. Although signs remind people that plastic is prohibited, there are no restrictions on carrying food and water. Environmentalists warn that Gulmarg and its surrounding areas are full of discarded plastic waste.

On May 15, 2023, local time, in Gulmarg, the grass is full of garbage.

According to the Paris Agreement adopted at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in December 2015, countries agreed to limit the global temperature rise this century to within 2 degrees Celsius above the average temperature between 1850 and 1900, and ideally to limit the rise to a threshold of 1.5 degrees Celsius. But greenhouse gas emissions caused by plastics may make it impossible to achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement.

The production, use and disposal of plastics are polluting ecosystems, endangering human health and undermining climate stability, said Inger Andersen, Executive Director of the Environment Agency. By adopting a circular approach, plastics are kept away from ecosystems and our bodies and remain in the economy for a long time, thus greatly reducing this series of risks.

On April 22, 2023, local time, a large number of discarded plastic bottles and other garbage floated in the Morava River in Kosovo.

On March 22, 2023, local time, "Plastic Rocks" in the laboratory of the University of Parana, Brazil. Geologists have discovered that a large amount of plastic pollution floating in the ocean has formed rocks.

Two workers collect plastic in the Citalon River in Bandung, Indonesia, on March 28, 2023.

A small team of volunteers cleans up foam plastic in the Ciliwung River in Bogor, Indonesia, on March 4, 2023.

Customers buy plastic cutlery in a store in Colombo Market, Sri Lanka, on February 14, 2023.

Las Huacas River is polluted by garbage in Chinatla, Guatemala, on March 10, 2023.

In order to achieve an 80% reduction in global plastic pollution by 2040, the report makes the following recommendations:

First, unnecessary plastic use needs to be eliminated to reduce the severity of the problem. Second, it calls for three market shifts, namely reuse, recycling and repositioning diversified products. Among them, promoting reuse options, including refillable water bottles, bulk dispensers, deposit refund programs, packaging recycling programs, etc., can reduce plastic pollution by 30% within 2040. Governments must help unlock greater commercial value for reusable items to realize their potential. In terms of recycling, if recycling can be made into a more stable and profitable business, plastic pollution can be reduced by another 20% by 2040. Measures such as eliminating fossil fuel subsidies and implementing design guidelines for improved recyclability can increase the proportion of economically recyclable plastics from 21% to 50%. In addition, by making products with alternative materials (such as paper or compostable materials) and replacing products such as plastic wrappers, pouches and takeaway items, another 17% of plastic pollution can be reduced.

On April 5, 2023, local time, in Dakar, Senegal, 49-year-old Senegalese environmental activist Modou Fall, known as the "Plastic Man", holds a plastic package while walking on the beach with a child to remind people of the pollution caused by the use of single-use plastics.

On May 7, 2023, local time, an ExxonMobil package wrapped around a sapling in a nursery in Nakuru, Kenya. As the world is awash in plastic waste, supporters of a plastic treaty within the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC) are advocating for a legally binding instrument to reduce virgin plastic produced by the petrochemical industry.

Women sort empty bottles at a plastic recycling plant in Hyderabad, Pakistan, on April 30, 2023, local time.

According to the report, the global shift to a circular economy will save $1.27 trillion. In addition, $3.25 trillion will be saved by avoiding externalities, such as costs related to health, climate, air pollution, degradation of marine ecosystems and litigation. By 2040, this shift could also create a net increase of 700,000 jobs, most of which are concentrated in low-income countries, and greatly improve the living standards of millions of informal sector workers.

Workers operate the Mobula8 ocean cleaning ship in Benoa Port to handle marine debris in Bali, Indonesia, on March 20, 2023, local time.

Photos and texts from: Xinhua News Agency, UN Environment, Visual China, The Paper

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