Observing World Environment Day 2025 – Ending Plastic Pollution

This year’s theme is ending global plastic pollution. This theme highlights the urgent need to reduce and eliminate plastic waste from the earth. Plastic pollution has increased to become a major environmental threat impacting our water bodies, soils and human health. This theme calls for shifting towards sustainable alternatives and reducing single-use plastics.

Drawing from our previous opinion piece in observance of the World Environment Day 2023, referring to statistics, we stated that 1 million plastic bottles are purchased every minute, while up to 5 trillion plastics bags are used worldwide every year. In total, half of all plastic produced is designed for single use purposes – used just once and then thrown away[1].

Plastic pollution exacerbates the massive impacts of the triple planetary crisis; the crisis of climate change, the crisis of nature, land and biodiversity loss and the crisis of pollution and waste[2]. Globally, an estimated 11 million tonnes of plastic waste leak into aquatic ecosystems annually, while microplastics accumulate in the soil from sewage and landfills due to the use of plastics in agricultural products[3]. Plastic pollution is expensive. Its current annual social and environmental costs are estimated between USD 300 billion and 460 billion[4]. Back home to Uganda, according to research conducted by the World Climate School's Uganda chapter, more than 75% of used plastic bottles end up in landfills, lakes, and rivers, which is seriously damaging to the environment[5]. 

The full cost of plastic does not only stem from its externalities. The disposal system is expensive as well. A major part of the challenge is that the plastics supply chain is mostly linear, with materials produced new and used only once. An estimated 90–95% of plastic production is “new” plastic[6] and over two-thirds of the 430 million tons of plastic produced globally each year is for short-lived, single-use products, like packaging or bags. Moreover, product disposal is mismanaged—barely 10% of plastic gets recycled each year. In 2019, 82 million tons of plastic waste were collected and then released or deposited, such that the waste could get into the natural environment, such as dumpsites and landfills[7]. As a result, over 100 million tons of plastics have accumulated in rivers and lakes, and 30 million tons in the ocean. The total cost of managing plastic waste to governments between 2021 and 2040 could reach up to USD 670bn, with the cost of inaction for businesses potentially reaching USD 100bn over the same timeframe[8]. 

In 2023, the UN Environment Program published a report outlining a systems change situation to end plastic pollution and create a circular economy. The plan envisages curbing unnecessary plastic use and reducing plastic pollution by expanding the recycling market. Under this scenario, savings of USD 1.3tr could be realised, considering investment, operational and management costs, and recycling revenues. Delivering this plan will require a change in economic incentives. On the supply side, scaling back fossil fuel subsidies is needed to raise the production costs of new plastics and promote investment in recycled plastics, non-plastic substitutes and business models. Further redirect plastics use to only the most essential cases and caps or reduction targets are also likely to be necessary. 

Product design is critical to creating a circular economy. Policies that incentivise designs that facilitate circularity rather than single use are essential. These are most effective when directly targeting product characteristics such as weight or recyclability. According to the UN, it is economically feasible to reduce the consumption of short-lived plastic products by 30% by 2040 while still meeting the needs of growing populations and economies[9]. The extended producer responsibility mechanism (EPR), developed in line with the polluter pays principle, which assign the costs of collecting, managing, and treating plastic waste to the producer, have been found to be especially effective when coupled with economic incentives and fines. Europe seems to have advanced in this area as a good number of countries have improved when it comes to recycling[10]. In Uganda, the Uganda Manufacturing Association (UMA) has endorsed the establishment of a Producer Responsibility Organisation (PRO) spearheaded by some of its beverages producing members that mainly use plastic bottles, demonstrating its commitment to creating a sustainable and circular economy. The goal is to foster collaboration among stakeholders to improve the recycling value chain, shift behaviours and attitudes towards recycling, and develop recycling policies[11].

In closing, we would like to reecho our opinion piece observing World Environment Day 2023. Everyone is required to join in, as we put an end to plastic pollution. Individuals, communities, businesses, non-government organisations and governments influence the systemic change required to transition to a circular economy. So, everyone has a role to play. Ending plastics pollution and creating a circular economy requires global partnerships. This year’s World Environment Day observance comes as countries make progress towards securing a global treaty to end plastic pollution. In November 2024, the fifth session of negotiations to that end were held in the Republic of Korea with the second part of the session scheduled to take place in Geneva, Switzerland in August 2025.