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Nature, 1 October 2024
What harmful microbes are lurking in the world’s 7 billion tonnes of plastic waste?
Pathogenic viruses and antibiotic-resistant bacteria thrive on plastic. The biohazard risks of this ‘plastisphere’ shouldn’t be overlooked in efforts to tackle the pollution crisis.
In June, more than 2,000 volunteers participated in the 2024 Global Ocean Cleanup campaign and netted nearly 40 tonnes of plastic debris from just some 80 kilometres of ocean and coasts across the world, including sites from Vietnam to California. Although representing one week’s hard work for the volunteers, such initiatives are a drop in the ocean of plastic waste that is generated each year — about 400 million tonnes, equivalent to the weight of all adult humans currently on Earth.
A plethora of projects and policies, both national and international, aim to tackle plastic pollution. In 2019, for example, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations set up a Framework of Action to reduce marine debris. The European Plastics Pact, in place since 2021, brings 15 governments and 82 private businesses together to reduce, reuse and recycle plastics as much as possible. And the legally binding UN Global Plastics Treaty, currently under discussion through the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee on Plastic Pollution, should be finalized by the end of the year.