IPEN is calling for an international plastics treaty that:
- Protects health and the environment
- Ends the production and use of toxic chemicals in plastics
- Removes toxic impacts at all stages of the lifecycle of plastics
- Bans recycling of plastics containing hazardous chemicals
- Protects the public’s right to know about chemicals in plastics and information on plastic production and waste exports
- Charges plastic producers to finance the treaty
- Promotes safer sustainable materials for a toxics-free circular economy
- Curbs toxic and climate pollutants
In the meantime, greater transparency on toxic chemical additives used in plastics is needed, along with data on the quantities of plastics made, traded, and disposed of. For more information see our Plastics Treaty page.
Every stage of the life-cycle of plastic involves toxic chemicals, which threaten human health, the environment, biodiversity, and the climate.
IPEN’s work aims to reveal the toxic threats to health and the environment in each stage of plastics’ life-cycle in order to:
- Curb the production of toxic oil, natural gas, and petrochemicals.
- Eliminate and substitute the most toxic chemicals used in the production of plastic.
- Strengthen global policies related to plastic waste controls and incineration.
- Promote environmental justice.
