Paris, National Assembly on 24 May 2023

Our planet is polluted by plastics which contain chemicals that are seriously harmful to people and the environment.

Most plastics originate as fossil fuels and emit greenhouse gases throughout their life cycle. Plastics and the associated chemicals used in their production are pervasive in food chains, contaminating water, soil, and air, and releasing hazardous substances into the environment.

Recent scientific studies have found microplastics in human blood, lungs, and placenta, as well as in livestock feed and milk and meat products. Exposure to toxic chemicals often found in plastics can also affect future generations, impacting fertility, shortening gestation periods, and lowering birth weights.

The plastic crisis has disproportionate impacts on persons, groups and peoples in vulnerable situations such as children, women, Indigenous Peoples, coastal communities, people living in extreme poverty, surrounding communities affected by plastic production facilities, People of African Descent, workers at heightened risk of occupational exposure, including waste-pickers and people with certain medical conditions such as cardio-vascular disease, diabetes and immunosuppression, among others.