Thread by @MelanieBergma18

1/ As #OceanCleanUp seeks to make a wave to strengthen its business model,it's important to remember that #plastic pollution is not just a waste issue,which is why a mandate was given to negotiate an agreement that covers the entire life cycle of #plastics.nature.com/articles/s4301…

2/ In one of the webinars that I visited recently to prepare for these negotiations, it was said, that there is now overwhelming evidence of health effects at every stage of #plastics lifecycle, nicely put together in the @minderoo report 👇#PlasticsTreaty
annalsofglobalhealth.org/articles/10.53…

3/ In addition, at every stage of its life cycle, #plastics cause #greenhouse gas emmissions, which we super-urgently need to reduce to mitigate the #climatecrisis. This study estimated that plastic caused 4.5% of global #GHG emissions. #PlasticsTreaty
doi.org/10.1038/s41893…

4/ @Winnie_WYLau et al. CLEARLY calculated that we have to use ALL solutions known today to be able to achieve at least a 78% redution in #plastic pollution. Among these, reduction measures achieved the greatest saving in pollution (blue peels=47%).
science.org/doi/10.1126/sc…

5/ But as if this was not enough: Hohn et al. estimated that even if 200 #OceanCleanUp devices were running *without downtime until 2150*, only 5% of the FLOATING #plastic could be removed, which represents the smallest share of all #plastics in the ocean.
sciencedirect.com/science/articl…

6/ Then there is the problem of bycatch, since neuston animals tends to accumulate where #plastic accumulates because of ocean currents, not rocket science really. So, by trying to protect marine life from #plastic, we may cause more harm? #PlasticsTreaty
doi.org/10.1371/journa…

7/ We need standard international rules and criteria for #EnvironmentalImpactAssessments for #OceanCleanUps in the High Seas, as this is currently not regulated. Such analyses are sorely needed, especially in understudied ecosystems such as the High Seas!
peerj.com/articles/15021/

8/ But what gets me most: after collection of the ocean/river #plastics, there is no solution, because this #plastic is even harder to reuse. So, it's burned or landfilled, creating GHG emmissions. So, if you continue #BusinessAsUsual production, this is waht you get.

Fin/There is no away with #plastics, so the most efficient way to tackle the issue is to produce less, i.e. via caps on the production of new plastic,which would also create a level playing field for industry.Still other solutions have a role to play, too.
science.org/doi/abs/10.112…

Fin/Fin I only now saw this report, which would have been useful to highlight in terms of the #ClimateCrisis aspect of #plastics, so here it is now ;)

https://twitter.com/MelanieBergma18/status/1662004501123940355