A Plastic Planet

Top panel 🚨 alert. 🔔 Hope to see y’all at Blue Earth Summit My first panel kicks off at 10am in the Futures Stage where we have a fast and furious solutions focused session with founders who are MAKING THE FUTURE. Followed rapidly by the Agents of Change Panel on main Blue stage. Come and say 👋 Emily Penn Nick Doman Prof Sally Beken, Fellow IOM3 Amir Afshar Alvin Lim Roni GamZon Benjamin Droguet Notpla

ONE DAY TO GO. Tomorrow at 10am, Blue Earth Summit presents OUR THRIVING POST PLASTIC FUTURE – How we will make stuff. The fast-paced discussion will explore what can replace the incredible but toxic and indestructible material that is plastic. It will give us a glimpse into a very exciting and hope-filled future of truly circular materials. Moderated by Sian Sutherland, the talk will kick off with wonderful footage from X Trillion’s Emily Penn, industry insights from Nick Doman and Salley Beken, wrapping up with five extraordinary founders leading us into a PlasticFree future. If you haven’t already booked, use the discount code [SPEAKER25] to get your tickets: https://lnkd.in/dHC7sYwd Alvin Lim Benjamin Droguet Amir Afshar Roni GamZon

We already have the solutions to the plastic crisis right at our fingertips. Today, our co-founder Sian Sutherland is at the BMW Foundation Herbert Quandt Responsible Leaders Summit in Berlin, where she’s engaging with innovators who are shaping a plastic-free future. One of these trailblazers is Sparxell, the creators of plastic-free glitter, who are making headlines in The Guardian this week. Sparxell is among many start-ups at the summit that are driving the shift from plastic to nutrient-based alternatives, showing how interconnected and solvable this crisis truly is. The tools for change are in our hands—we can make this happen. Benjamin Droguet Julian Ellis-Brown Ponda Leena Al Olaimy Symbaiosys https://lnkd.in/g5tk3uYf

We can no longer ignore the devastating health impacts of plastics and their toxic chemicals. The evidence is undeniable. In 2019 and 2020, scientists at UCR and Duke University in Southern California uncovered a disturbing reality: the average urban resident’s daily exposure to plasticizers is off the charts. Through an experiment involving 137 students wearing wristbands over several days, researchers proved that these individuals were continuously surrounded by highly carcinogenic chemicals, lurking in the very air they breathed. The results are nothing short of alarming: up to 97 percent of these hazardous plasticizers were traced back to DEHP and DiNP—two chemicals that pose serious threats to human health. DEHP, which California has only recently banned in medical devices, is just one of many culprits. Meanwhile, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency continues to raise the alarm, pointing to overwhelming evidence linking these plasticizers to cancer, developmental disorders in children, and reproductive health issues. This is a crisis we can no longer afford to downplay. It’s time for decisive action—a sweeping ban on these toxic plasticizers in everything from cosmetics to packaging and everyday products. The stakes are too high to wait any longer. Read more here: https://lnkd.in/gTRPPvXn

“The corporate zeitgeist believes increased recycling and improved “eco-design” will save their day, but such wishful thinking will result in a 43 percent rise in plastic waste from their supply chain by 2040.” In her latest piece for Resource, Sian Sutherland, co-founder of A Plastic Planet, lays bare the harsh truth: recycling is nothing more than a greenwashing smokescreen, propping up a “business as usual” mindset that fuels plastic pollution and drives us toward a global health catastrophe. Sian urges consumers to not be fooled by fake recycling statistics and demands that businesses “wake up, move the money to the materials and systems of the future, and protect the health of their customers rather than the healthy bottom line of the fossil fuel industry.” With the final negotiations for the Global Plastics Treaty on the horizon, governments stand at a pivotal moment to dismantle the status quo and lead the charge towards a post-plastic economy. Read the article here: https://lnkd.in/e5gTW66W

Recycling is the fig leaf of consumption, as proved by yet another shameful report. Research by Everyday Plastic and the Environmental Investigation Agency demonstrates how UK supermarkets attempt to fool the British public with soft plastic “recycling schemes”. Trackers were placed on 40 pieces of soft plastic that were supposed to be recycled under the “return to store” recycling scheme by leading supermarkets, Sainsbury’s and Tesco. However, none of the items that were tracked to their end destination were recycled. 70% of these soft plastics were burnt, and others were downcycled to be used as unrecyclable materials. These alarming but unsurprising findings are just one of many demonstrations that plastic waste is unmanageable, and that industries are tricking consumers under the guise of recycling. People are bothering to take their bread bags and food wrappers back to their supermarket for what? Ritual burning? This is tantamount to fraud.   We have learnt from the case of ExonMobil that corporations will increasingly be facing litigations around misleading recycling claims and plastic pollution. With the UN Plastics Treaty on the horizon, there is a real opportunity for governments to introduce ambitious legislation that cuts the production of plastic at the source, so businesses have no choice but to play ball.

Now is the time for change. Leading medics across the world have warned of the profound public health crisis caused by plastic pollution. This week, the Plastic Health Council shared an open letter to UN delegates ahead of the final round of talks for the UN Global Plastics Treaty in November. The doctors have warned that toxins found in plastics cost the US at least 250 billion dollars in economic impact. Signatories include representatives from the Alder Hey Children’s Hospital, Royal College of Pediatrics and Child Health, Queens University Belfast, Doctors Against Harm and NHS Trusts. As Professor Hugh Montgomery says, “The planet pays the price of plastic - but so, too, does its people. It is not only the oceans that are filling with plastic: across all ages, our bodies contain growing volumes of plastic particles.”   Thank you to all the doctors who are highlighting the science and calling for change: Professor Leonardo Trasande; Professor Hugh M.; Professor Bruce Redmon; Professor David Carpenter; Professor Diana Eccles; Dr Hal Spencer; Dr Helena Clement; Dr Melissa Lem; Dr Gina Solomon; Dr Niels Jørgensen; Dr Philippe Grandjean; Dr Iain Hennessey; Professor Alan Smyth; Professor Christian Mallen; Professor Philip Landrigan; Professor Scott Wilkes; Dr Richard J Jackson; Dr Robert Sargis; Professor Sheela Sathyanarayana; Stuart Sugarman and Dr Ted Schettler. Decision-makers can no longer risk a “business as usual” approach to plastic. The UN Plastics Treaty must instil legally-binding, ambitious caps on production to protect the future of human health for good. Read more here: https://lnkd.in/dnaupDqj

Fantastic news from California - we’re one step closer to saying goodbye to the “bag for life” scam. California has signed a bill that bans plastic bags in checkout lanes – including the “bag for life”. The reusable, plastic “bag for life” is a myth promoted by the plastics industry. As a thicker plastic alternative, they pollute our planet for even longer and continue a “business as usual” approach. In fact, a report by CALPIRG showed that the volume of plastic bag waste has actually increased in California since the single-use plastic bag was banned in 2014 and replaced with the “bag for life”. In 2014, 157,385 tons of plastic bag waste was discarded in California. By 2021, that tonnage had increased by 47% to 231,072. “Nothing we use for just a few minutes should pollute the environment for hundreds of years,” said Laura Deehan, Environment California State Director. California’s decisive stand on plastic should serve as a model for other states that are refusing to take meaningful steps in addressing the plastic crisis. It is fundamental that we tackle the problem at its source and that governments continue to take note of California and push for ambitious laws for the sake of our planet and health. In the UK we have on average 57 bags for life in every household. It’s clearly a fail for plastic reduction. Let’s push for this same ban worldwide. https://lnkd.in/eJieX3nX

We’re consuming hazardous chemicals via the food we eat. A new study has revealed that of the 14,000 known chemicals in food packaging, around 25 percent have been found in the human body, whether in samples of blood, hair or breast milk. The hazardous chemicals include metals, volatile organic compounds, PFAS, phthalates and others known to disrupt the endocrine system and cause cancer or other diseases. As Dr Jane Muncke explains, “There are known hazardous chemicals that are known to be linked with adverse human health outcomes. And these chemicals leach out of packaging. “We need to be thinking about constructive ways forward, how we can ensure the safety of these materials. What worries me a lot is that’s not happening.” We need immediate action to phase out hazardous chemicals in food packaging and implement stricter regulations to protect our bodies. With Global Plastics Treaty final negotiations beginning in November, we are at a serious crossroads of either taking action, or carrying on business as usual and failing to protect human health. We urge governments to be on the right side of history and create a treaty that dramatically cuts plastic at the source. https://lnkd.in/eZ4FsBNy

Just by breathing, microplastics are infiltrating our brains. New research from the University of Sao Paulo has revealed that plastic from everyday items has infiltrated the olfactory bulb, meaning that breathing could be a major source of plastic pollution in the brain. The study identified that the most common plastic found was polypropylene, typically used for clothing, food packaging and bottles. Lead researcher and member of the Plastic Health Council, Professor Thais Mauad explains that “With much smaller nanoplastics entering the body with greater ease, the total level of plastic particles may be much higher. What is worrying is the capacity of such particles to be internalised by cells and alter how our bodies function.” Plastics infiltrating the human brain is extremely worrying, since the scientists are concerned that this could be linked to neurological and psychiatric conditions such as dementia. Scientists have already linked plastic to conditions including heart disease, infertility issues, diabetes and cancers. As co-founders of the Plastic Health Council, A Plastic Planet urges governments to listen to the scientists who are calling for an ambitious Global Plastic Treaty that mandates the reduction of plastics at the source for the sake of human health. https://lnkd.in/ekbsJ3GT