Plastic is everywhere, and almost everything we buy these days comes in plastic.

We expect our plastic waste to be recycled, but in New Zealand, plastic waste is often exported to developing countries where it is likely to be illegally burned or just dumped, harming the health of local communities. Only a tiny fraction ever actually gets recycled.

The United Nations Environment Assembly now has the mandate to open negotiations for a global, legally-binding treaty on plastic that covers its entire life cycle including extraction, production, transport, use, disposal and remediation.

Greenpeace has a petition calling on the New Zealand Government to support the strongest possible Global Plastics Treaty.

Image: Greenpeace