At the recent UN summit in Geneva, representatives from more than 180 countries failed to reach a global plastics agreement. Esther Kentin, a lecturer at Leiden Law School, spoke to media outlets on the issue: ‘Human health is at stake.’
Plastic pollution is a major global problem. In Geneva, world leaders are discussing a possible plastics treaty. Lecturer Esther Kentin talked to Dutch news platform NU.nl about the UN summit: ‘A treaty is only a small part of the solution.’
This week, the cooperation between the Zwerfinator and Leiden University was in the news because of loose labels on deposit bottles. NOS news reported that the Zwerfinator submitted an enforcement request to the Inspectorate. The Leiden Advocacy Project on Plastic (LAPP) is supporting litter waste expert Dirk Groot, better known as the Zwerfinator, in submitting an enforcement request to the Environment and Transport Inspectorate (ILT). The Zwerfinator requests ILT to enforce labels on deposit bottles that come off too quickly and to hold beverage producers accountable for this.
Plastic pollution is a major environmental issue. Although regulation is being adopted, plastic pollution is still increasing. Effective and strict enforcement is key and NGOs and civilians can be instrumental in this.
FFashion, particularly fast fashion, is a major contributor to plastic pollution in the form of microplastic fibres. The 80-year-old Martindale test for interior textiles could be part of the solution.
Shell, our country's largest company, is constructing a vast plastics plant in the United States. And it is doing so at a time when the European Union, led by the Netherlands, is launching a major pact to combat use of plastic.
On 27 November 2019, the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen) organized a symposium on the plastic pollution crisis.
On 17 October 2019, the Netherlands’ Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management organised a first stakeholders meeting on microfibers from textile in the LEF Future Center. The meeting was prompted by a report of the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) in April of this year.
From 27 to 31 January, a workshop on the regulation of plastic pollution based on scientific evidence will be held at the Lorentz Center in Leiden.
The Plastic Soup Foundation and Parley for the Oceans hosted the very first Plastic Heath Summit in Amsterdam on 3 October, covering the most relevant and pressing health concerns surrounding plastics and human health. Beyond discussing the latest findings in the field we asked the urgent question: is plastic making us sick?
