Overview

• Delegates in Geneva have launched a ten-day INC-5.2 session to draft the first legally binding global pact covering plastics from production to disposal
• The treaty text under discussion includes bans on non-essential single-use plastics, legal caps on virgin plastic output and restrictions on hazardous chemical additives
• Negotiators are considering equity measures that would fund waste management and offer technical support to low-income countries where open-air burning drives asthma, COPD and cancer
• Recent reports from The Lancet and ISGlobal reveal microplastics and nanoplastics in human organs and warn that 75% of plastic additives lack basic safety evaluation
• The newly formed Lancet Countdown on Health and Plastics will issue its first report in mid-2026, supplying data to monitor health impacts and treaty compliance