Plastic pollution is a worsening public health crisis, but there are solutions

Abstract

We need to put humans and the environment before corporate profits, writes Bethanie Carney Almroth Plastics have become a concern at the forefront of public environmental awareness campaigns and in political discussions. Nations of the world convened in Geneva, Switzerland, in August 2025 to negotiate a globally binding United Nations treaty intended to end plastic pollution across the full life cycle—from production to disposal.1 It had been three years since heads of state agreed on a mandate to create this historic treaty, but although the sixth round of negotiations took place in Geneva, they ended without agreement. Some view this as a complete failure, but I do not. There is hope—the undeniable weight of the scientific evidence emerged as one of the strengths in the treaty negotiations. Representatives from countries around the world rejected the plastics treaty draft as it did not align with the evidence and would not be able to fulfil the mandate to end plastic pollution. In …