Country : France

Topic: Marine Pollution Caused by Plastic Waste

Committee: United Nation Environmental Program

Plastics are cheap material, easy to make, and has good durability. Even with that
advantage, plastics have been a deeply concerned issue around the world, as its presence is hard
to remove, and the amount remains increased. The amount of the recycled plastic and the plastic
waste we generate is not compatible, thus, from this condition, plastics usually get discarded at a
landfill and the ocean, while it also ruins the life of the animal that lives in the sea. The global
plastic production will eventually increase over the next 10 to 15 years, on top of that, by 2050
there will be around 12 billion tones of plastic litter in landfills and the environment. Moreover,
there are still microplastics that contaminate the oceans by 15-31%, from the main sources of
laundering of synthetic clothes, and abrasion of tires through driving, etc. According to the UN,
there are as many as 51 trillion microplastic particles in the seas. And around 13 million tones of
plastic goes into our ocean per year, that damaging the ocean environment, harming the
biodiversity, and from the food chain, it can even harm human health.

Since the founding of the UN in 1945, France has been a supportive member of the
United Nations. On 2014, the French government, signed an agreement with the UNEP/MAP,
regarding the coastal zone management of the department of Var, and becoming the first French
department of the Mediterranean coast to lay the foundation for a fully integrated coastal zone
management program, and the agreement was implemented over 2014-2017. The COP21 or the
“2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference,” is held in Paris, focusing on negotiating the
agreements (Paris agreements) and to set goals to reduce greenhouse gas emission which are the
main factor of climate change, as well as to keep the average global temperature below 2 degrees
Celsius. France also has its way to reduce waste, which is the French waste prevention program
2014-2020, with the purpose of stabilizing the amount of waste generated by economic activities,
construction, and demolition.

As a part of the European Union, France is placed as the country with the second-worst
plastic recycling rates in Europe, with the percentage of 25,5%. Even in the country itself, France
is lacking in the organization in recycling matters. From this, France is ambitious in becoming
the environmental pioneer, and is determined to establish and improving its influence on its
environment, as well as trying to generate an ecological revolution. Thus, they have a goal to
completely ban on all single-use plastic products by 2020, make bottles made from recycled
plastics, and to lower the price of these recycled bottles to boost buyers to consider purchasing
recycled plastic products, there are even some French engineer who developed plastics made of
seaweed and sugar cane, that decompose easily. Another approach by the French government for
the environment is providing recycling bin in certain areas, and through the use of government
subsidies, France also supply a clean technology for the people, to aim on encouraging the car
industry based on clean technology as the people started to use electric and hybrid vehicles that
produce emissions lower than 100 g CO2/km. The citizen of France is looking forward to the
action take by the government to protect the environment. The growth of the environmental-
friendly business is also supported by the French policies, The French citizen is trying to look
after more on the environment, as what has been pictured In the recent years, according to the
EAA, over 45,000 environment-related jobs existed in France, there are even an increasing
amount of students who take environmental-related courses, aware of the importance of looking
after the environment. From this, France has taken this issue seriously, and consider the
following solutions:
1. Establishing the production of plastics made of raw materials, that are easy to decompose
(Sugarcane, Seaweed, etc,), and taking firm action on banning all single-use plastic
2. Improving the recycling organization, and providing recycle bins, all over the country,
and applying lower price on the recycled plastic products
3. To take action on minimizing the release of microplastics from textiles, tires, paint, and
cigarette buts.

Bibliography:

1. Science for Environment Policy (2011). Plastic Waste: Ecological and Human Health Impacts.
Retrieved from
https://ec.europa.eu/environment/integration/research/newsalert/pdf/IR1_en.pdf
2. World Environment Day (2018). The States of Plastics. Retrieved from
https://wedocs.unep.org/bitstream/handle/20.500.11822/25513/state_plastics_WED.pdf?isAllo
wed=y&sequence=1