World Environment Day 2023: Solutions to Plastic Pollution

CCB • June 5, 2023

5 June 2023 - Today the world is celebrating the World Environment Day, a special day focusing on human efforts to protect, and conserve the global environment. This year the special theme of the Day is #BeatPlasticPollution.

 

Global cumulative production of plastics since 1950 is forecast to grow from 9.2 billion tons in 2017 to 34 billion tons by 2050 (Geyer, 2020). Therefore, plastic pollution definitely represents a highly important environmental, economic, and social topic globally, and for the Baltic Sea region in particular.

Credit & original image: GRID-Arendal


It is estimated that 75 to 199 million tonnes of plastic is currently found in our oceans. Unless we implement drastical changes in our approach to plastic production, usage and disposal, the amount of plastic waste entering aquatic ecosystems could nearly triple from 9-14 million tonnes per year in 2016 to a projected 23-37 million tonnes per year by 2040. How does it get there? A lot of it comes from the world's rivers, which serve as direct conduits of trash into lakes, seas, and the ocean.


Plastic and impacts on marine ecosystems

Ingestion, physical entanglement, smothering, and the transport of pathogens in biofilms are causing a range of lethal and non-lethal effects in marine organisms, including physiological disturbances, disease, changes in gene expression, alterations of behaviour, and shifts in species assemblages and biodiversity. These in turn, have impacts on ecosystems, leading to a wide range of social and economic consequences such as loss of revenue from natural resources and damage to maritime industries and coastal infrastructure.

Credit & original image: GRID-Arendal


Marine microplastics: example of plastic impact on marine environment

Plastic pollution has led (among other things) to microplastic contamination of the whole marine environment, from the shore to the deepest ocean sediments (e.g. Ryan et al. 2009; Woodall et al. 2014). These microplastic particles can adsorb and transport contaminants from the surrounding environment, adding to the many chemical additives that are incorporated during the production of the plastic. Marine organisms can ingest this plastic directly, or by consuming other organisms that contain plastic.

Credit & original image: GRID-Arendal/Studio Atlantis


How CCB is working on plastic?

CCB and its member organizations have been working for many years to address the issue of plastic pollution in the Baltic Sea region in frame of it Hazardous Substances and Marine Litter Working area. Examples of our activities include the projects Plastic Free Baltic, Plastic Free Ocean, and the “#NonHazPlasticDiet” campaign.


Our current thematic plastic engagements include CCB participation in the EU Interreg project “Baltic Approaches to Handling Plastic Pollution under a Circular Economy Context” - BALTIPLAST (2023-2025). The project aims at the prevention and reduction of plastic waste in the Baltic Sea Region, focusing on single use plastic reduction, improvements in plastic packaging and innovative collection and treatment systems at the municipality level.


Soon this year, CCB will release the new report "Keep Fibers Zipped", which will cover available solutions to tackle microfiber pollution from textile in the Baltic Sea region, and globally.


***
Article written by Eugeniy Lobanov, CCB Hazardous Substances Working Area Leader



EXTRA RESOURCES


By CCB December 5, 2025
In Belém, in the heart of the Amazon, the 2025 UN Climate Change Conference COP30 immediately set the bar high. In his opening speech, Brazilian President Lula da Silva stressed that climate change is no longer a "threat to the future", but a tragedy that the world is already experiencing here and now, and called on countries to accelerate actions rather than limit themselves to promises. However, as is often the case in COP meetings, the political reality turned out to be more complicated than ambitions. Negotiations were difficult: the countries could not agree on a clear and binding plan to phase out fossil fuels. It is important to note that the Global Action Plan has provided a platform for discussing the development of a roadmap for phasing out fossil fuels, the main driver of climate change. At the same time, COP30 has brought tangible progress in other areas: the countries agreed to triple the amount of adaptation funding for developing countries by 2035, strengthened the forest and ocean agenda, and expanded the range of practical initiatives under the Action Agenda . COP30 consolidated the trend: from "water at the center of the climate crisis" to a holistic ocean agenda closely related to energy, food, biodiversity and sustainable coastal development. From the COP29 Water Declaration to the COP30 Enhanced Ocean Water Program At COP29 in Baku, the Declaration on Water for Climate Action was adopted , with the aim to applying comprehensive approaches to combating the causes and consequences of climate change for water basins, emphasizing also the need to integrate water-related mitigation and adaptation measures into national climate policies, including Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and National Adaptation Plans (NAPs). COP30 did not reverse this logic, but expanded it towards the ocean and coasts. Both processes "aquatic" and "oceanic" are moving in the same direction: integration of water, coasts and ocean into the climate plans of countries; development of nature-based solutions; strengthening transboundary management of water and marine systems; recognizing adaptation as an equal part of climate policy, rather than an "adjunct" to emissions reduction. Task Force on Oceans and the Blue NDC Challenge The international Task Force on Oceans , led by Brazil and France, was officially presented at the high-level ministerial meeting "From Ambition to Implementation: Delivering on Ocean Commitments" on 18 November, integrating oceans into a global mechanism to accelerate the incorporation of marine solutions into national climate plans. The Blue Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) Challenge encourages countries to set ocean protection targets when updating their NDCs. The goal is to transition the Blue NDC Challenge into an Implementation Task Force. Members of the Blue NDC Challenge, currently 17 countries, can adopt a broad set of actions aimed at the protection and sustainable use of the oceans.These measures include the sustainable management, conservation, and restoration of coastal and marine ecosystems, supported by tools such as marine spatial planning, integrated coastal zone management, and climate-aligned marine protected areas. Countries are also encouraged to support sustainable and climate-resilient fishing and aquaculture, ensuring ocean health and long-term food security. B razil has set a clear example: its updated NDC includes a separate chapter on the ocean and coastal zones. For the first time, the national climate plan (Plano Clima) until 2035 includes a thematic adaptation plan for these areas. Priorities include the completion of national Maritime Spatial Planning (MSP) by 2030 and major programs for the conservation and restoration of mangroves and coral reefs (ProManguezal, ProCoral).
By CCB November 24, 2025
Leading scientists, consumer advocates and policymakers gathered on November, 18th in Brussels for the conference "From Evidence to Policy: Toward a Tox free Living Environment" . They warned that exposure to Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals in homes and consumer products represents a silent but severe public health and economic crisis. New findings presented to over 65 participants by the EU Baltic Sea Interreg project NonHazCity3 , LIFE ChemBee and the ToxFree LIFE for All projects as well as revealed widespread contamination of European households by complex chemical mixtures of hormone system disrupting substances (so called endocrine disrupters – EDCs) that contribute to chronic disease and impose enormous health costs. According to the key note speaker Dr. Aleksandra Rutkowska, the home environment is a significant source of exposure to EDCs through indoor air, dust and daily contact with common products. Current research links such exposure to a shocking amount of lifestyle diseases including 22 cancer outcomes, 18 metabolic disorder outcomes and 17 cardiovascular disease outcomes. Scientists also stressed that the crisis spans generations. EDCs trigger epigenetic changes that not only affect today’s population but also future children and even grandchildren. Other effects include reproduction disorders. Over the last decade, 150 million babies were born preterm, and evidence shows that reducing the use of plastics by half could cut the risk of preterm birth by half as well.