New Report: Plastic and toxic additives, and the circular economy--the role of the Basel and Stockholm Conventions

A new report on plastics and toxic additives has been released. This report was prepared by the Marine Litter Topic Group lead by the Stockholm Convention Regional Centre in Spain as part of its activities under the Convention on the impact of plastic waste, marine plastic litter, microplastics and measures for their prevention and environmentally sound management. Several IPEN Participating Organizations and IPEN Science Advisors contributed to this report. Click here to read the full report. 

The report covers challenges to the life cycle management of plastics, including recycling and end of life disposal. It also highlights substances of concern, including flame-retardants, Perflourinated chemicals (i.e. PFAS), Phthalates, Bisphenols (BPA) and Nonylphenols. The report discusses the issue of microplastics--persistent pollutants with transporting capacity hindeirng the implementation of the circular economy--and concludes with key approaches to tackling the issue, including extended producer responsibility and accessing information about chemicals used to make plastics, among other approaches.