After a lot of talking it seems we are coming to
concrete facts. Indeed, to resolutions that find few equals.
On March 2, an agreement was signed which commits
nearly 200 states to adopt a legally binding document to deal with the plastic
waste emergency. By 2024, these states are committed to drafting – (through the
UN) – and signing a treaty that has been given the name of “Plastic
Treaty”.
Why is it relevant? This is the first document with
legal and multilateral value that commits states to joint and coordinated
actions to combat the plague of plastic waste. In fact, it affirmed the
identification of this phenomenon as a systemic risk capable of threatening
health and the global ecosystem. A few days ago the news of a study confirming
the presence of microplastics in human blood, a fact that adds to the
innumerable damage that the dispersion of plastic in the environment causes.
The general objective of the treaty is to manage
“the entire life cycle of plastic”. This means that there is an
international commitment to implement a circular economy system in the industry
and consumption of plastics. The maximum objective of such an agreement – and
in general of such a proposal – is to minimize the dispersion of plastic waste
in the environment. In addition to the positive ambition to achieve such a
result, there is also a method factor for which the circular economy can be the
only way to stop the environmental dispersion of plastic without having to
completely erase a much-used material and a giant economic sector.
However, a problem remains. That is, from the
ratification of the treaty within the UN and its ratification by the states,
passing through the study and implementation of such a plan, at least 2 decades
of work are expected. Too long a period of time. In fact, spills into the
oceans continue to increase, as does the production of plastic itself.
Therefore River Cleaning is also in this case the most
relevant technological solution. Being able to stop the flow of plastic waste
present in rivers can represent the factor that can make the “Plastic
Treaty” the legal structure for the solution to plastic pollution without
the time required for its implementation representing an obstacle. In fact, the
success of this treaty can also be based on the fact that the necessary time
frame can be mitigated by the presence of technological solutions.
River Cleaning is exactly this and the development
model we pursue stems from this consideration: not the solution of managing the
life cycle of plastic, but preventing it from reaching the oceans and all the
negative effects this causes.The problem of plastic waste has two fundamental
characteristics: the systemic character on the one hand and the emergency one
on the other. It is therefore clear that the systemic character is an aspect
that properly concerns the sphere of legislation and international cooperation,
while the emergency produced by this phenomenon requires technological
solutions and field operations.
River Cleaning stands at the crossroads of these two
instances, its scalability makes it a systematized technology and the intrinsic
simplicity of its technology – floating boe whose rotation is driven by the
current itself – makes it implementable in a short time.
Sources:
– https://globaltreatydialogues.org/
