UN treaty to curb plastic pollution could result in major changes, Chicago expert says
It is a topic for world leaders meeting in Geneva, Switzerland, who this week have been discussing a treaty meant to end the problem.
A doctor and professor at the University of Illinois Chicago who was part of the meetings said the treaty is a long time coming and could result in major changes.
A brand-new report on the risks and consequences of the world's reliance on plastics places the cost of plastic pollution to health worldwide at $1.5 trillion.
The report was released as world leaders and thousands of delegates from nearly 180 nations meet in Geneva, Switzerland — working, again, on the world's first treaty on plastic pollution.
"People are frankly outraged by the plastic in their environment," said United Nations Environment Programme executive director Inger Andersen.
The goal of the UNEP-facilitated talks this week is "to develop an international legally binding instrument on plastic pollution." This is the sixth attempt by the UNEP to do so, and the world leaders are hoping it's the last.
"What they come up with in Geneva could well impact on how we approach plastics," said Dr. Peter Orris, an attending physician at UI Health and a professor at the school of public health at UIC.
When CBS News Chicago spoke to Orris, he had just returned from a week in Geneva, where he was part of meetings on plastics.
"These plastics we are concerned about are in our own bodies, throughout our bodies, in the food we eat, fish we eat," Orris said.
With 19 million to 23 million tons of plastic waste leaking into aquatic ecosystems, that figure could increase by 50% by 2040 without immediate action, according to the UN.
But Orris, as a Chicago connection to the conversations happening on a global stage had a focus outside such critical issues as pollution in the oceans. Orris represented the World Federation of Public Health Associations, discussing plastics in the medical field.
"The technology now, and the medical technology has developed where we are able to see these micro- and nanosized particles, and we now understand these plastics we are concerned about are in our own bodies," Orris said. "The health sector is a very big sector all over the world and uses a lot of plastics."
Orris said this needs to change.
"We have to find ways of reducing the single-use plastics in healthcare," said Orris. "If we can do things to change our behavior in health care and reduce the overall impact of these plastics and the toxins, we want to be involved in it."
Back in Chicago, Orris is keeping tabs on what is still happening overseas.
"Hopefully, it will be positive," he said. "We will see happens at the end."
The conversations in Geneva continue for another week.
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