[Draft] Reducing Single-Use Plastics

[Bisofeyr]

The World Assembly,

Appreciating the beauty of the world in which we reside, and wishing to preserve that world to the most beautiful degree that can be managed, and

Understanding the negative impact that single-use plastics have on the environment, and

Believing that a sensible step to improve this assembly's sustainability efforts is to introduce regulations surrounding the production and consumption of single-use plastics within its members, therefore enacts as follows:

1. "Single-use plastic" (SUP) shall refer to non-biodegradable plastic materials which are not intended or designed to be returned to the producer to be refilled or reused for the same purpose it was designed for. Examples of SUPs may include, but are not limited to, plastic bags, straws, cutlery, beverage bottles, and food wrappers.
   
2. SUP products which have a reasonable, non-SUP alternative which is readily available, affordable, and sustainable, shall not be permitted to be sold or purchased in any member.
   
3. SUP beverage bottles in which both the bottle and cap are made out of plastic must have the bottle and the cap remain connected while the bottle is uncapped in order to be sold or purchased in any member. Reasonable exceptions may be made for certain liquid medicines in which such a feature is untenable.
   
4. Where possible, SUPs must have clearly legible and conspicuous labels detailing proper disposal protocols and the negative environmental consequences of the SUP.
   
5. The World Assembly Plastics Department (WAPD) shall be formed and tasked to monitor the use of SUPs within members and compile a publicly-accessible report annually that highlights levels of SUP usage, advances in biodegradable alternatives to plastic, environmental impact of this and other related World Assembly initiatives, and economic feasibility for further measures.
   
6. Members shall have three years from the passage of this resolution, or their initial entry into the World Assembly, to enact the provisions of this proposal, and may request assistance from the WAPD to develop strategies for enactment.

Environmental - All Businesses: Strong
This is adapted from the EU Directive 2019/904. There are some interesting ideas in there surrounding producer responsibility, but I figured that was probably closer to a national responsibility on how to enact this than something that ought to be micro-managed on an international level, so I kept it to the more basic regulations.

[Bananaistan]

"Completely and utterly opposed. Paper straws and allegedly non-detachable lids are the work of the devil."

OOC: Support.

[Simone Republic]

Two critical issues (because I thought about this issue before)

1. Bio-degradable plastics.

2. Plastics for persons with disabilities (edit: the link page used "disabled people" but I usually use "persons with disabilities")
https://thebigplasticcount.com/disability-justice

[Bisofeyr]

Two critical issues (because I thought about this issue before)

1. Bio-degradable plastics.

2. Plastics for disabled persons.
https://thebigplasticcount.com/disability-justice

Addressed 1. 2 is a good point that I think has a solution but I'm not prepared to write it right now (on behalf of needing to think about crafting something nuanced).

[Simone Republic]

Two critical issues (because I thought about this issue before)

1. Bio-degradable plastics.

2. Plastics for disabled persons.
https://thebigplasticcount.com/disability-justice

Addressed 1. 2 is a good point that I think has a solution but I'm not prepared to write it right now (on behalf of needing to think about crafting something nuanced).

The nuance was the reason I didn't pursue this topic.

(PS: poor choice of words on my part, I was thinking of "people with disabilities" but because the UN convention is still called "Declaration on the Rights of Disabled Persons", and the source text used that term, I used that term there.)

[Bisofeyr]

Bump on the other content while I figure out disability inclusivity measures.

[Elyreia]

I'm no expert on the matter at all, but I had heard a thing that is possibly relevant to this legislation if true.

Apparently many plastics, including single-use, are in fact biodegradable (or more accurately photodegradable) when exposed to long periods of solar light. Studies released in 2019 and 2023 are apparently showing surprising amounts of plastic being broken down on a chemical level by solar UV, causing levels of around 1.7-2.3% per year.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/a ... 6X22012267

Something to consider to close up any loopholes re: single use plastics that do, in fact, degrade naturally.

[Bananaistan]

I'm no expert on the matter at all, but I had heard a thing that is possibly relevant to this legislation if true.

Apparently many plastics, including single-use, are in fact biodegradable (or more accurately photodegradable) when exposed to long periods of solar light. Studies released in 2019 and 2023 are apparently showing surprising amounts of plastic being broken down on a chemical level by solar UV, causing levels of around 1.7-2.3% per year.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/a ... 6X22012267

Something to consider to close up any loopholes re: single use plastics that do, in fact, degrade naturally.

OOC: I don't think that study is nearly as optimistic as you suggest:

In a simplified model, this suggest that up to 22 % of all floating plastic ever released to the ocean could have been degraded by solar UV radiation. Photodegradation is thus an apparent key sink mechanism for floating PMD and could explain a substantial part of the missing plastic paradox. Nevertheless, our study also shows that photodegradation mostly transforms plastic polymers to smaller organic carbon compounds (DOC and hydrocarbons) rather than fully mineralizing plastic to DIC and CO2. The impacts of photodegradation-induced release of DOC and DIC from PMD to the marine environment are not well constrained. Photodegradation-derived DOC comprises a broad range of compounds including nanoplastics. Photodegradation could thus lead to elevated concentrations of nanoplastics in the subtropical and tropical ocean where plastics accumulate, which has unforeseeable consequences for marine life in these ecosystems.

[Elyreia]

I'm no expert on the matter at all, but I had heard a thing that is possibly relevant to this legislation if true.

Apparently many plastics, including single-use, are in fact biodegradable (or more accurately photodegradable) when exposed to long periods of solar light. Studies released in 2019 and 2023 are apparently showing surprising amounts of plastic being broken down on a chemical level by solar UV, causing levels of around 1.7-2.3% per year.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/a ... 6X22012267

Something to consider to close up any loopholes re: single use plastics that do, in fact, degrade naturally.

OOC: I don't think that study is nearly as optimistic as you suggest:

In a simplified model, this suggest that up to 22 % of all floating plastic ever released to the ocean could have been degraded by solar UV radiation. Photodegradation is thus an apparent key sink mechanism for floating PMD and could explain a substantial part of the missing plastic paradox. Nevertheless, our study also shows that photodegradation mostly transforms plastic polymers to smaller organic carbon compounds (DOC and hydrocarbons) rather than fully mineralizing plastic to DIC and CO2. The impacts of photodegradation-induced release of DOC and DIC from PMD to the marine environment are not well constrained. Photodegradation-derived DOC comprises a broad range of compounds including nanoplastics. Photodegradation could thus lead to elevated concentrations of nanoplastics in the subtropical and tropical ocean where plastics accumulate, which has unforeseeable consequences for marine life in these ecosystems.

Less optimistic and more ensuring all the ops bases are covered. I provided the link explicitly for people far more versed and knowledgeable to provide their input and ensure we have a full accounting of possibilities.

The only thing I'm a professional at is music and, according to my degree, I guess computers but I don't really see it.

[The Overmind]

I think your only real option vis-à-vis single-use plastics that are of critical use to those with disabilities is to exempt them wholesale from the requirements of the resolution, including their use by people without disabilities, and accept that harm reduction with respect to single-use plastics is the goal and not harm elimination -- the latter simply being unachievable without imposing harm on those with disabilities who rely on their use. Promoting their alternatives, and education about the dangers of environmental nanoplastics (which we know, for example, accrete in the neurons of the central nervous system and disrupt endocrine functioning) may be supplementary to the goals of this proposal if you implement such an exemption.