Recycling is cool, reducing is better: fighting plastic pollution at source

euronews (in English)

Recycling is cool, reducing is better: fighting plastic pollution at source  Faced with the explosion of plastic consumption, scientists and institutions are warning: recycling will not be enough. Reducing andalternative options are needed to tackle plastic pollution, with plastics now present everywhere in the environment and even in our bodies.  In partnership with The European Commission  READ MORE : http://www.euronews.com/2025/07/30/recycling-is-cool-reducing-is-better-fighting-plastic-pollution-at-source  Subscribe to our channel. Euronews is available on Dailymotion in 12 languages

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00:01A few minutes of use, a few centuries to decompose.

00:05This is single-use plastic.

00:08Global plastic production has doubled since 2000 and could triple again by 2016.

00:14Every minute it is said that a garbage truck full of plastic ends up in the oceans.

00:19Cleaning and recycling are no longer sufficient.

00:21Europe wants to tackle pollution at the source.

00:25On the eve of a possible global treaty on plastic, some are taking action now.

00:29We're starting our journey in Croatia.

00:39On one of Europe's most beautiful coastlines, four ferries a day take you to the island of Zlarin.

00:48Its crystal clear waters and its coral museum.

00:52Every summer this little corner of paradise alone consumes more than 150,000 single-use plastic items.

00:58Bags, cups, cutlery.

01:01Until the day the locals set stop.

01:04Hi Katarina.

01:05Welcome to our island.

01:06I was just looking at the water.

01:08I can't see plastic.

01:10Maybe you should take some glasses or microscope to check it.

01:14There is definitely plastic inside.

01:16In 2018, citizens, NGOs and retailers signed a charter to commit to reducing their plastic consumption as much as possible.

01:25This restaurant has sourced more sustainable materials.

01:30It changes the thinking and other people.

01:34We have to say that the beginning is a big problem.

01:40A hundred meters further along the keysides gone are the bags and disposable cups of the island's grocery shop.

01:46This is my home.

01:48And these are our plastic bags.

01:51It's a return.

01:52For Zlarin without plastic, it really suggests that we are trying to be without plastic and especially without single-use plastic.

02:00Six summers later, several tons of waste have probably been prevented, but plastic has not yet disappeared.

02:07We do a lot of efforts and there is no end to that, but it doesn't mean that we should stop trying.

02:14We have to reduce our plastic fingerprint, like they said, because it's our planet, it's our survival.

02:24The European Union was a pioneer in banning certain single-use plastic items as of 2021.

02:29Since then, data has shown a drop in coastal pollution.

02:33But back on the Croatian mainland, I still saw quite a few in the pretty town of Trogir.

02:44We see you have sustainable spoons, not plastic, not anymore.

03:01The problem is that these items can take centuries to decompose and that doesn't even mean they disappear.

03:07According to one study, plastic particles are found inside half of the fish here in the Adriatic Sea.

03:1280% of this plastic that we can find on the beach, it comes from the land.

03:18That is single-use plastic.

03:19In the nature, it will compose on the smaller pieces and it becomes microplastic.

03:26So, marine organisms take food, then we eat also the fish, so that is a food chain.

03:35And in the end, we also eat plastic.

03:37We need to be rid of single-use plastic.

03:40The town of Trogir has decided to tackle this plastic problem.

03:47It has launched an action plan with the support of the NGO Sunseer.

03:50The city has also set an example by banning single-use plastic from all municipal institutions.

03:51The city has also set an example by banning single-use plastic from all municipal institutions.

03:53The city has also set an example by banning single-use plastic from all municipal institutions.

04:00I calculated that we used two tons of plastic, and we reduced single-use plastic for two tons.

04:07I was shocked.

04:08I couldn't believe it that it's such a big number for such a small city.

04:14The next step is to reduce its consumption in public spaces by offering lower rents to plastic-free restaurants.

04:21We've seen that some ice cream shops are still using single-use plastics. Can you do something?

04:28More recently, the European Union adopted a series of other policies to improve the recyclable

04:45which is important to have no-one divisions

04:48which are supported by the system.

04:53More recently, the European Union adopted a series of other policies

04:56to improve the recyclability of our everyday packaging,

04:59or to limit the leakage of plastic pellets during maritime transport.

05:06A new European Ocean Pact was also unveiled

05:09at the United Nations Ocean Conference in Nice.

05:15In this area that is open to the public,

05:18plastic pollution was a central theme.

05:20The three big messages are to reduce and to use the most possible.

05:23And in the third, it is to recycle, but only in the third.

05:27In the EU pavilion, this digital twin of the ocean

05:30combines European data to simulate the impact of our actions.

05:34We will be able to emit virtual plastic from Nice

05:38to look at its propagation in the Méditerranée.

05:41But we can also go back into the past

05:44and see the origin of the plastic.

05:46If I reduce the 50% of the rivers and the coast,

05:50we will reduce the plastic pollution

05:52during a simulation of two years.

05:54What could happen in case of international treaties?

05:57Exactly.

05:58The draft of a future binding agreement was one of the hot topics

06:04in the official delegation zone.

06:05This is the plenary.

06:06It is here that countries have announced

06:07to improve the health of the oceans.

06:08In the case of the World Agreement for the biodiversity

06:10to protect 30% of the oceans from 2030.

06:12The ocean has regulated the public climate.

06:13The Ministry of Environment has been called

06:14a treaty to take into account the duration of the plastic.

06:15the duration of the past.

06:16Negotiations on the treaty will resume in August in Geneva.

06:30While some countries want to focus on waste treatment,

06:33the EU and 95 countries have launched a Nice wake-up call

06:36for the agreements to really reduce plastic production

06:39and harmful molecules.

06:41It is not against plastic as such,

06:43but it is against how to prevent it from pollution.

06:46So that is one important thing,

06:48to actually have the whole life circle of plastic,

06:51not only the recycled part, but also from the start.

06:54How are the negotiations going?

06:56I think they are going fine.

06:57Of course these multilateral negotiations are difficult always,

07:02but for us as Europeans it is important to get a treaty

07:05and we will try to encourage and lean on that.

07:07Secretary General.

07:08Good morning.

07:09Do you think we can reach an agreement on plastic?

07:11You are asking the wrong person.

07:12I am an optimist.

07:13Of course I will reiterate the call to all the stakeholders

07:16to get together.

07:17We share the same objective.

07:19We just need to find a way to move forward

07:21and address the concerns.

07:23To not do a treaty for the pleasure of making a treaty,

07:26it must be a treaty with strong commitments.

07:29The plastic is in train to pollute all nature

07:32and even the human body.

07:35The oceans need action now and that is urgent.

07:39I think being here in Nice also helps

07:41to have seized this momentum.

07:43It is moving forward and I am quite hopeful

07:45that we will get an agreement in August.

07:49That is the end of this episode.

07:51See you in September on the road to a deplasticised world.

07:54I am going to ride.

08:04I ampop Hoodos.

08:05I am gone.

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