Politicians and scientists are discussing the prospect of a Plastics Treaty, which would serve the purpose of reducing plastic consumption on a communal, global scale. The main purpose of this treaty would be to reduce the global consumption of plastic, which is currently being predicted to almost double by 2050. With this new treaty, as well as environmental protection legislation, the United Nations (UN) claims that plastic production could be cut by 80% before 2040. Plastic production became widespread in the 1960s, but the quantity of plastic manufactured has continuously increased. According to Plastic Ocean, over 380 million tonnes of plastic is produced annually. Furthermore, evidence collected by The Big Plastic Count found that the average household throws away 66 pieces of plastic packaging within a single week. This equates to 3432 pieces of plastic being thrown away annually for a household living in the UK. This, horrifying, means that an estimated 1.85 billion pieces of plastic waste is thrown away every year in the UK. According to the BBC, only around 9% of the plastic used globally gets recycled every year; this is in comparison to the 40% that is sent to landfill, 25% that is incinerated, and the 15% that is dumped. Approximately 9 million tonnes of plastic waste are dumped into the ocean annually, and according to a 2015 study, there is an estimated 150 million tonnes of plastic waste in the oceans. Terrifyingly, a study conducted by the Ellen McArthur Foundation forecast that by the year of 2050, there will be more plastic in the oceans than fish. These statistics relating to consumption, climate change, and conservation are more crucial than ever, especially due to the limited time in which these issues can be corrected. On 12th June 2023, a council in the UK promised the implementation of “action plans” after being unable to meet their environmental targets between 2022 and 2023. The Council of Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough failed to meet their environmental targets, with the council’s environmental services department only meeting an average of 35.7% of its targets. A progress report has been published, and this similarly presents a worrying trend. This progress report found that an additional 35.7% of these targets were “behind schedule” and that 28.6% of targets “have not been achieved or have been missed”. Since the publication of these targets, and the extent to which the environmental targets remain unachieved, Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council has proposed a £400 fine for individuals who are caught fly tipping in the borough. If this fine is approved, it will be implemented from 1st August 2023.
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