Majority of global consumers want an end to single-use plastics, flags WWF report

23 Feb 2022 --- Roughly 75% of global consumers want to see a ban on single-use plastic items, according to a new survey published by WWF. The findings come days before the UN is set to convene for its Environment Assembly (UNEA) 5.2, in which global leaders will discuss a possible international treaty against plastic pollution.

WWF’s report, which uses survey research from Ipsos, found that Latin American and BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, and China) countries show the highest levels of agreement with banning single-use plastic, at 88% and 80%, respectively. In comparison, North America has the lowest levels of agreement at 61%.

The highest levels of agreement in individual countries are seen in Colombia (89%), Chile and Mexico (both 88%), and Argentina and China (both 84%), and the lowest levels in Japan (37%), the US (55%) and Canada (66%).

The study was conducted among 20,513 adults under the age of 75 across 28 countries on Ipsos’s Global Advisor online platform.

The survey results come as world leaders are set to debate a global treaty on plastic pollution.“These results make it very clear that there is a strong consensus globally that single-use plastics should be taken out of circulation as quickly as possible. The fact that there is such strong support for an international treaty to address single-use plastics shows that people see this as a challenge that all countries have to solve together. People want to do the right thing,” remarks Ipsos Australia director Stuart Clark.

“An average of 82% of people surveyed want to buy products that minimize plastic packaging. They want that change to happen quickly, and they want their governments to support it.”

Support for a global treaty
On average, 88% of people surveyed across 28 countries also believe it is essential, very important or fairly important to have an international treaty to combat plastic pollution. Again, Latin America (93%), BRIC countries (91%) and the Middle East/Africa (90%) were the regions with the highest levels of agreement.

The five countries with the highest levels of agreement were Mexico (96%), Brazil (95%), Colombia (94%), and Chile and Peru (both 92%). Those with the lowest ones were Japan (70%), the US (78%) and Canada (79%).

Clear majorities of consumers in every country and a global average of 82% also agree they prefer products that use as little plastic packaging as possible. Again, Latin America and BRIC countries show the highest levels of agreement at 89% and 84%, respectively. China, Mexico, and Colombia top the list at the national level with 92% agreement, followed by Chile (90%) and Peru (87%). Again, Japan is the country with the lowest percentage agreeing (56%), followed by the US (71%) and the Netherlands (73%).

Bans on single-use plastics are already being implemented in many regions.Vast majorities of people in all 28 countries agree that manufacturers and retailers should take responsibility for reducing, reusing, and recycling plastic packaging, with a global average of 85%. Latin Americans are those who are most in agreement (89%), followed by Europeans. Public opinion in Japan is not as unanimous, with 72% agreeing with the statement.

The five countries where support for having manufacturers and retailers take responsibility for reducing, reusing, and recycling plastic packaging is highest are Brazil, China, Great Britain, and Mexico, all at 90%, and Sweden at 89%, while those least likely to agree were Japan (72%), Saudi Arabia and South Korea both at 79%.

Plastic Free July, a global movement run by the non-profit Plastic Free Foundation, is also helping people end plastic waste by choosing to refuse single-use plastic.

Industry’s “powerful message”
Last month, over 70 financial institutions and businesses released a statement urging a legally binding global treaty on plastics pollution for the UNEA 5.2.

The signatories, already supporters of WWF’s previous report “The Business Case for a UN Treaty on Plastic Pollution,” include Amcor, Berry, Coca-Cola, Mondelēz International, Mondi, Nestlé, Procter & Gamble, PepsiCo and Unilever.

The US administration also reversed its intentions toward such a treaty, with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken last year announcing a U-turn on the Trump administration’s stance, saying: “By launching these negotiations at the UN Environmental Assembly in February 2022, our goal is to create a tool we can use to protect our oceans and all of the life they sustain from the growing global harms of plastic pollution.”

The UNEA 5.2 will kick off on Monday February 28.

By Louis Gore-Langton

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