• Over 2,000 garbage trucks worth of plastic is dumped into oceans, rivers, and lakes daily, posing a threat to both mankind and ocean life. 

• Plastic production contributes to the climate crisis.

• Microplastics, tiny particles up to 5mm in diameter, contaminate what we consume and breathe, with each person consuming over 50,000 plastic particles annually. 

• A new UNEP report shows that plastic pollution can be reduced by a staggering 80 per cent by 2040 – if humankind acts now to reuse, recycle, and pivot away from plastics. 

• We must ‘work as one’ – governments, companies, and consumers alike – to break our addiction to plastics, and build a truly circular economy. 

 • ECOSOC President, Lachezara Stoeva, said that financial support, capacity building and technical assistance should be provided to developing countries to facilitate their transition from unsustainable patterns of consumption and production to circular economic models that promote reusability and reduce waste.