IPEN International Pollutants Elimination Network

gas flaring from an industrial facility
After overshadowing climate talks, the myth of ‘circularity’ looms over the UN plastics treaty

by Judith Enck and Pamela Miller Judith Enck is a former EPA regional administrator, the president of Beyond Plastics, and sits on the faculty at Bennington College. Pamela Miller is executive director…

Global plastic pollution treaty talks hit critical stage in Canada

Thousands of negotiators and observers representing most of the world’s nations are gathering in the Canadian city of Ottawa this week to craft a treaty to stop the rapidly escalating…

As plastic treaty talks open, countries more divided than ever

Countries are under pressure to make progress on a first-ever global plastics treaty this week, but they face tense negotiations in the Canadian capital with parties deeply divided over what…

As Plastic Treaty Delegates Head to Canada, A Plea From the Arctic

Indigenous people from Arctic communities are calling for environmental protection in the runup to this month’s round of negotiations aimed at securing a global treaty to end plastic pollution. U.N.…

New Republic logo with background of plastics dump
The U.N. Is Running Out of Time to Draft This Plastics Treaty

In March 2022, U.N. delegates met in Ottawa and struck a historic agreement to produce, by the end of 2024, a legally binding treaty to “end plastic pollution.” “Plastic pollution…

a pile of plastic bottles, EHN logo in foreground
Ending toxic threats to Alaska from plastics and petrochemicals

Within a single lifetime, Indigenous communities in the Arctic have seen the rates of illness skyrocket due to toxic pollution caused by the interlinking of chemicals, plastics and the climate…

World policymakers trudge tough road at fourth UN plastics meeting

The world is trying to figure out how to deal with the over 350 million metric tons of plastic waste we create every year. Scientists know that microplastics and chemicals…