Pollution

Through a review of the scientific literature on the environmental impacts of plastics, the research team shows that plastic pollution is now altering some major processes at the scale of the entire Earth system. This impact extends to global issues like climate change, biodiversity loss, ocean acidification, and the use of freshwater and land.

This report looks behind the scenes of corporate strategies to keep on polluting and urges companies to deplastify now. Thisrequires transitioning from plastics (particularly linear / singleuse plastics) to sustainable alternative materials and systems ofconsumption, such as reuse and refill. 

Are plastic credits a solution to the global plastic pollution crisis? The report provides a critical and impartial examination of the most prominent credit-issuing schemes and examines current practices with regard to governance structures, financial flows and what happens to the plastic waste collected in return for credits, and analyses environmental and social concerns.

The study aims to provide insight into the extent to which the environmental and social impacts of single-use plastics are integrated into ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) ratings, as well as the level of transparency exhibited by ESG rating providers. 

This paper articulates the economic and financial basis for establishing a cap on global plastics production. The production cap, once adopted as part of the final legally binding agreement, is expected to serve as the linchpin to end plastics pollution.

This report models whether a virgin plastic production reduction target of 40% by 2040 (40×40) could keep the plastics industry within a 1.5°C carbon budget. It outlines the methodology used to predict how the global economy would respond to a 40×40 target, including modeling different scenarios based on business-as-usual (BAU) demand and reduced-demand scenarios. 

Just before INC5, this booklet gives an overview of negotiation priorities and challenges. The global treaty must not condemn our planet and communities to runaway climate change fuelled by unchecked petrochemical expansion, the collapse of ecosystems saturated with plastic pollution, and avoidable disease from exposure to microplastics and plastic chemicals.

This investigation uncovers shocking evidence of how bad actors exploit regulatory weaknesses and legal loopholes in the global plastic waste trade, fuelling a thriving illegal market. The global plastic waste trade continues to pose significant environmental and health risks, and causes huge amounts of pollution of land, air and even soil.

The newest feature of EIA’s Global Environmental Crime Tracker, the Plastic Waste Trade Crime Tracker is an important step towards exposing and tackling the illegal plastic waste trade. 

The report exposes the climate footprint of the planned petrochemical buildout in America. It identifies the most climate-damaging projects and products, demonstrates carbon capture’s inability to significantly mitigate emissions, and uncovers how taxpayers are being misled into funding polluting projects sold as ‘climate solutions.’