Tackling Plastic Production: Why and How to Do It

About this episode

The episode discusses the importance of addressing plastic production to combat pollution, featuring insights from experts in marine biology and environmental science.

It's the elephant in the room: The growth of plastic production and how that contributes to pollution. In this episode, we're taking a look at why it's important to not only tackle the waste plastic causes, but also the source of the issue itself. Anja discusses this with Melanie Bergmann, a marine biologist at Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research and a plastic pollution researcher for more than a decade, and Kristian Syberg, an environmental scientist and planner from Roskilde University. Both are members of the Scientists' Coalition for an Effective Plastics Treaty. Sources mentioned: - Cowger et al. (2024), Global producer responsibility for plastic pollution, Science Advances https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adj8275 - Borrelle et al. (2020), Predicted growth in plastic waste exceeds efforts to mitigate plastic pollution, Science https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.aba3656 - Lau et al. (2020), Evaluating scenarios toward zero plastic pollution, Science https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.aba9475 - Geyer et al. (2017), Production, use, and fate of all plastics ever made, Science Advances…

People in this episode

Host: Anja Krieger

Guests: Melanie Bergmann, Kristian Syberg

Topics covered

• plastic production
• pollution
• marine biology
• environmental science
• plastic treaty

Keywords

• plastic pollution
• marine biology
• environmental science
• plastic treaty
• waste management

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research, Roskilde University, Scientists' Coalition for an Effective Plastics Treaty

Books & works: Global producer responsibility for plastic pollution, Predicted growth in plastic waste exceeds efforts to mitigate plastic pollution, Evaluating scenarios toward zero plastic pollution, Production, use, and fate of all plastics ever made, The view of a local authority

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