Plastic leakage to environment projected to increase by at least 68%, primarily originating from ASEAN lower-middle-income countries and China, according to OECD report
Anadolu staff |10.08.2025 -
ANKARA
Plastic waste leakage to the environment in Southeast Asian countries, plus China, Japan, and South Korea, could increase by nearly 70% if effective measures are not taken, warned a report by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).
"Driven by rising incomes and living standards, plastics use in the region is projected to almost double in the absence of more ambitious policies," the Regional Plastics Outlook report said, comparing the figures to 2022 levels.
The member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) are "expected to see a near tripling," it added.
Plastic waste is projected to more than double, while plastic leakage to the environment is projected to increase by 68%, primarily originating from ASEAN lower-middle-income countries and China, the report also said.
Describing the region as a "hotspot for plastic pollution," it noted that 8.4 million tons of mismanaged plastic waste leaked to the environment in 2022.
Regional plastic waste rose from 10 million tons in 1990 to 113 million tons in 2022, the report also noted.
"Informal and unsafe practices, such as open burning and dumping, persist in most ASEAN countries and China, especially in rural areas," it added.
Plastic waste is a major environmental issue, polluting rivers and oceans and posing health risks to wildlife and humans as microplastics also enter the body.
The report projects that annual leakage into the environment in the region could reach 14.1 million tons in 2050, of which 5.1 million tons could reach rivers, coastal areas, and oceans.
The countries in the region differ widely in waste management capabilities, with plastic use in 13 countries surging almost ninefold from 17 million tons in 1990 to 152 million tons in 2022.
As over half of the plastic used in the region has a lifespan of less than five years, much of it quickly becomes waste.
Plastic use in the region may drop by 28% through ambitious actions, including bans on single-use plastics and taxes, which could also raise the recycling rate to 54%, and reduce mismanaged waste by 97%, the report also noted.
In a related development, talks for an international legally binding treaty on plastics pollution resumed on Tuesday in Geneva, after the previous talks last year in South Korea collapsed as countries split over measures on plastic output curbs and plastic waste management.
* Writing by Aamir Latif.
Global plastic treaty
Published August 10, 2025
DAWN
THE world has embarked on a serious attempt to tackle the escalating plastic pollution crisis with talks organised by UNEP being held in Geneva. The second part of the fifth session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee, which runs from Aug 5 to 14, is intended to deliver the text of a legally binding global treaty on plastic pollution. If nations reach an agreement, it would address plastics across their entire lifecycle, from production to disposal. The aim is to put a stop to the millions of tonnes of plastic that leak into the environment each year, poisoning ecosystems, wildlife and human health. The stakes are huge. Scientists warn that without decisive intervention, plastic leakage into aquatic ecosystems could nearly triple by 2040. The economic and health costs — already estimated at over $1.5tr annually — will only mount. As dubbed by many, the Geneva talks are the world’s “last good chance” to forge a treaty to meaningfully reverse these trends.
Yet, with talks due to end on Thursday, negotiations are gridlocked. Over 100 countries in the High Ambition Coalition want enforceable caps on virgin plastic production, the phasing out of harmful additives and robust financing mechanisms. Opposing them are powerful oil- and gas-aligned states — including the US, Saudi Arabia, Russia and China — which favour focusing on recycling and waste management, resisting upstream production limits. With over 200 industry lobbyists swarming the conference, civil society fears a watered-down outcome. Pakistan’s specific negotiating stance has not been made public, but as a developing country facing surging plastic waste and inadequate waste management, it has a clear stake in an equitable treaty. Islamabad’s priorities are likely to include access to climate and pollution finance, capacity-building and technology transfer to support domestic implementation. Aligning with progressive positions on production caps would also signal a commitment to systemic change rather than piecemeal fixes. For Pakistan — and the planet — this treaty must not be another exercise in futility that leaves the root of the problem untouched. Delegates should insist on binding targets to reduce plastic production, global bans on the most hazardous polymers and additives, and a dedicated fund to help developing countries transition. If governments can rise above narrow commercial interests, they can deliver an accord that future generations will be thankful for.
Published in Dawn, August 10th, 2025ling and waste management, resisting upstream production limits. With over 200 industry lobbyists swarming the conference, civil society fears a watered-down outcome. Pakistan’s specific negotiating stance has not been made public, but as a developing country facing surging plastic waste and inadequate waste management, it has a clear stake in an equitable treaty. Islamabad’s priorities are likely to include access to climate and pollution finance, capacity-building and technology transfer to support domestic implementation. Aligning with progressive positions on production caps would also signal a commitment to systemic change rather than piecemeal fixes. For Pakistan — and the planet — this treaty must not be another exercise in futility that leaves the root of the problem untouched. Delegates should insist on binding targets to reduce plastic production, global bans on the most hazardous polymers and additives, and a dedicated fund to help developing countries transition. If governments can rise above narrow commercial interests, they can deliver an accord that future generations will be thankful for.
Published in Dawn, August 10th, 2025
Yet, with talks due to end on Thursday, negotiations are gridlocked. Over 100 countries in the High Ambition Coalition want enforceable caps on virgin plastic production, the phasing out of harmful additives and robust financing mechanisms. Opposing them are powerful oil- and gas-aligned states — including the US, Saudi Arabia, Russia and China — which favour focusing on recycling and waste management, resisting upstream production limits. With over 200 industry lobbyists swarming the conference, civil society fears a watered-down outcome. Pakistan’s specific negotiating stance has not been made public, but as a developing country facing surging plastic waste and inadequate waste management, it has a clear stake in an equitable treaty. Islamabad’s priorities are likely to include access to climate and pollution finance, capacity-building and technology transfer to support domestic implementation. Aligning with progressive positions on production caps would also signal a commitment to systemic change rather than piecemeal fixes. For Pakistan — and the planet — this treaty must not be another exercise in futility that leaves the root of the problem untouched. Delegates should insist on binding targets to reduce plastic production, global bans on the most hazardous polymers and additives, and a dedicated fund to help developing countries transition. If governments can rise above narrow commercial interests, they can deliver an accord that future generations will be thankful for.
Published in Dawn, August 10th, 2025ling and waste management, resisting upstream production limits. With over 200 industry lobbyists swarming the conference, civil society fears a watered-down outcome. Pakistan’s specific negotiating stance has not been made public, but as a developing country facing surging plastic waste and inadequate waste management, it has a clear stake in an equitable treaty. Islamabad’s priorities are likely to include access to climate and pollution finance, capacity-building and technology transfer to support domestic implementation. Aligning with progressive positions on production caps would also signal a commitment to systemic change rather than piecemeal fixes. For Pakistan — and the planet — this treaty must not be another exercise in futility that leaves the root of the problem untouched. Delegates should insist on binding targets to reduce plastic production, global bans on the most hazardous polymers and additives, and a dedicated fund to help developing countries transition. If governments can rise above narrow commercial interests, they can deliver an accord that future generations will be thankful for.
Published in Dawn, August 10th, 2025
Eternal waste
Published August 9, 2025
DAWN
LOVE it or hate it, plastic is everywhere; it doesn’t die, decay or disappear. It was the first to touch you when two latex-gloved hands lifted you from your mother’s womb. Today, micro- and nanoplastics are found in our blood, brains and even in the placenta. From the deepest recesses of the planet (the Mariana Trench) to its highest point (Mount Everest), plastics are found everywhere — in the food we eat, the water we drink, and the air we breathe.
More than 460 million tonnes of plastic are produced every year, a figure that is projected to increase to 1,200 Mt by 2060, with less than 10 per cent of it recycled. An estimated 20 Mt ends up in landfills or water bodies, eventually reaching the oceans. With over 98pc of plastics made from fossil fuels, it can be described as the world’s largest oil spill.
With single-use plastic (SUP) products like bags, bottles, straws and fast-food containers lasting for over 450 years, and accounting for up to 40pc of all production, momentum is building to tackle the waste crisis. Global brainstorming from Aug 5-14 is taking place in Geneva to draft a legally binding treaty to end plastic pollution. The talks, which aim to address the full life cycle of plastic — from its creation to its disposal — began in 2022.
A major showdown is expected between the more than 100 countries that want a binding treaty, with global caps on plastic production, SUPs and certain chemicals, and “like-minded countries” including Saudi Arabia, Russia, China and Iran, which have large fossil fuel industries and are pushing for a voluntary deal focused only on waste management, especially recycling.
Society must reduce its use of plastic.
In between the warnings against capitulation and scepticism that negotiators may have to settle for a watered-down agreement, there is another group of independent scientists and health experts trying to draw attention to the “under-recognised” danger posed by plastics on human and planetary health. Writing in The Lancet, in a review published a day before the negotiations began, they say that linking plastics to human health, instead of the environmental argument alone, may trigger stronger public and government engagement, leading to action, as happened with past global threats, including air pollution and ozone depletion.
People must know how plastic affects endocrine functions and contributes to respiratory problems, birth defects, cardiovascular disease and perhaps even cancer. The Lancet calculates health-related costs to be over $1.5 trillion annually, hitting low-income and high-risk populations the hardest.
Regardless of the outcome of the talks, Pakistan must stop seeing itself as a minor polluter to deflect responsibility. The clogged nullahs and overflowing garbage dumps tell a different story. To move forward, Pakistan needs credible city-wise data on all kinds of waste generated — domestic, municipal, industrial and hazardous — with consensus reached on the data among the government, the private sector and academia, regarding better future planning. Variously quoted current figures (between 2 Mt and 3.9 Mt of plastic waste annually) are widely disputed and dismissed by circular economy experts as well as researchers who say they are exaggerated.
What is also needed is a national registry of plastic producers, importers and recyclers and mandatory reporting of plastic usage and the volumes of waste generated. While extended producer responsibility, a key to global trade rules, has not been applied in Pakistan, it will be soon, and plastic businesses should prepare to be registered. It will also mean adopting green pr-actices, complying with safety standards and tra-cking waste to earn eco-certification.
Even recyclers, who say that only 3pc of Pakistan’s plastic is recycled when the potential is up to 18pc, should streamline. The government must step in as facilitator, offer tax incentives and tech-nical and infrastructure support by setting up industrial plastic parks for safer and centralised recycling and closer monitoring.
However, policy by itself isn’t enough; society must cooperate by reducing its use of plastic and understand the health risks. That means avoiding SUPs for food, ditching non-stick cookware, black plastic utensils and even parchment paper and cupcake liners that may contain toxic “forever chemicals”. But individual action can only go so far without strict enforcement.
Pakistan has instituted plastic bans in the past, which failed. Neither have the more recent patchy bans in Sindh, Islamabad and Punjab stopped the use of SUPs. The country must learn from global best practices through stronger regulation, public education and the scientific management of waste. Most importantly, it must ensure dignity for those who keep our cities clean. It is time for a policy and mindset change.
The writer is a Karachi-based independent journalist.
Published in Dawn, August 9th, 2025
DAWN
LOVE it or hate it, plastic is everywhere; it doesn’t die, decay or disappear. It was the first to touch you when two latex-gloved hands lifted you from your mother’s womb. Today, micro- and nanoplastics are found in our blood, brains and even in the placenta. From the deepest recesses of the planet (the Mariana Trench) to its highest point (Mount Everest), plastics are found everywhere — in the food we eat, the water we drink, and the air we breathe.
More than 460 million tonnes of plastic are produced every year, a figure that is projected to increase to 1,200 Mt by 2060, with less than 10 per cent of it recycled. An estimated 20 Mt ends up in landfills or water bodies, eventually reaching the oceans. With over 98pc of plastics made from fossil fuels, it can be described as the world’s largest oil spill.
With single-use plastic (SUP) products like bags, bottles, straws and fast-food containers lasting for over 450 years, and accounting for up to 40pc of all production, momentum is building to tackle the waste crisis. Global brainstorming from Aug 5-14 is taking place in Geneva to draft a legally binding treaty to end plastic pollution. The talks, which aim to address the full life cycle of plastic — from its creation to its disposal — began in 2022.
A major showdown is expected between the more than 100 countries that want a binding treaty, with global caps on plastic production, SUPs and certain chemicals, and “like-minded countries” including Saudi Arabia, Russia, China and Iran, which have large fossil fuel industries and are pushing for a voluntary deal focused only on waste management, especially recycling.
Society must reduce its use of plastic.
In between the warnings against capitulation and scepticism that negotiators may have to settle for a watered-down agreement, there is another group of independent scientists and health experts trying to draw attention to the “under-recognised” danger posed by plastics on human and planetary health. Writing in The Lancet, in a review published a day before the negotiations began, they say that linking plastics to human health, instead of the environmental argument alone, may trigger stronger public and government engagement, leading to action, as happened with past global threats, including air pollution and ozone depletion.
People must know how plastic affects endocrine functions and contributes to respiratory problems, birth defects, cardiovascular disease and perhaps even cancer. The Lancet calculates health-related costs to be over $1.5 trillion annually, hitting low-income and high-risk populations the hardest.
Regardless of the outcome of the talks, Pakistan must stop seeing itself as a minor polluter to deflect responsibility. The clogged nullahs and overflowing garbage dumps tell a different story. To move forward, Pakistan needs credible city-wise data on all kinds of waste generated — domestic, municipal, industrial and hazardous — with consensus reached on the data among the government, the private sector and academia, regarding better future planning. Variously quoted current figures (between 2 Mt and 3.9 Mt of plastic waste annually) are widely disputed and dismissed by circular economy experts as well as researchers who say they are exaggerated.
What is also needed is a national registry of plastic producers, importers and recyclers and mandatory reporting of plastic usage and the volumes of waste generated. While extended producer responsibility, a key to global trade rules, has not been applied in Pakistan, it will be soon, and plastic businesses should prepare to be registered. It will also mean adopting green pr-actices, complying with safety standards and tra-cking waste to earn eco-certification.
Even recyclers, who say that only 3pc of Pakistan’s plastic is recycled when the potential is up to 18pc, should streamline. The government must step in as facilitator, offer tax incentives and tech-nical and infrastructure support by setting up industrial plastic parks for safer and centralised recycling and closer monitoring.
However, policy by itself isn’t enough; society must cooperate by reducing its use of plastic and understand the health risks. That means avoiding SUPs for food, ditching non-stick cookware, black plastic utensils and even parchment paper and cupcake liners that may contain toxic “forever chemicals”. But individual action can only go so far without strict enforcement.
Pakistan has instituted plastic bans in the past, which failed. Neither have the more recent patchy bans in Sindh, Islamabad and Punjab stopped the use of SUPs. The country must learn from global best practices through stronger regulation, public education and the scientific management of waste. Most importantly, it must ensure dignity for those who keep our cities clean. It is time for a policy and mindset change.
The writer is a Karachi-based independent journalist.
Published in Dawn, August 9th, 2025
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