The law is back in town! How can you legislate for plastic pollution all around the world? Is it possible to get close to 200 countries to agree on the way forward? What will such a treaty include?

Dr Alexandra Harrington is an environmental law specialist in Lancaster University Law School who has been part of the negotiations for a proposed international plastics treaty as a UN-accredited observer. It has not been straightforward – hence the lack of an agreement so far.

She takes us behind the scenes on negotiations that have taken place around the world – even if all she ever gets to see are the never-ending corridors of conference centres – and explains why there is the need for a treaty around plastic pollution. And while it may seem to be taking a long time to reach a conclusion, it has been quite speedy compared to similar agreements.

Discover how the plastics situation compares to mercury regulations and chemicals frameworks, how countries have banded together to wield their mass influence, and the unexpected connection between this issue and the effects of climate change for low-lying and island nations.

And is it possible to say Alex’s title of Chair of the International Union for Conservation of Nature World Commission on Environmental Law Agreement on Plastic Pollution Taskforce without taking a breath?

Plus, is there more to Busan than zombies and trains?

Discover more about Alex’s work here: https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/law/people/alexandra-harrington

Episode Transcript

There are around 144,000 people in the district of Lancaster – from the city itself to Morecambe, the villages and rural areas beyond. They produced 8,998 tons of household recycling in 2023.

So, why do these residents only recycle 36% of their plastics? What could you as a resident do to improve your habits? And what happens to the plastic that is recycled when the council collects it?

It’s time to bring an end to our investigation of the Plastic Packaging in People’s Lives project – and we bring it all back home.

Carly Sparks, Lancaster City Council’s Public Realm Improvement Lead, joins us to talk about their involvement in PPiPL as a waste collection authority.

We look at the reasons different councils have different rules for recycling collections, how PPiPL has helped Lancaster City Council find ways to encourage residents to recycle more and in the right way, what can be done to avoid confusion over what can and cannot be recycled, and whether Jan is a conscientious recycler. Could she even become an exemplar – or a pariah – in her community?

Plus, the importance of Sort, Wash and Squash. And why does Jan know so much about New Zealand soap operas?

Read more about Lancaster City Council’s involvement with PPiPL here: https://doc.your-brochure-online.co.uk/Lancaster-University_FiftyFourDegrees_Issue_21/22/

And find out more about the Wash and Squash it campaign from the council here: https://www.lancaster.gov.uk/bins-recycling/recycling/recycling-boxes

Episode Transcript

Do you know what happens to your plastic recycling after your bins are emptied?

As we continue our journey through the plastics pipeline, we encounter bin juice and the Mafia.

Lancaster University’s Dr Clare Mumford and the Chartered Institution of Wastes Management (CIWM)’s Richard Hudson take the Plastic Packaging in People’s Lives project to the final stage of its process – how plastic waste is dealt with.

It turns out plastic is not very sociable – one type does not get along with another – and this just adds to the complications when it comes to recycling.

We talk about the importance of being able to predict how much waste people are going to produce; the post-Christmas purple polypropylene surge; the need to properly sorting your plastics before recycling, and how to avoid recycling contamination; why moving away from plastics does not automatically mean greater sustainability; and public pessimism over what happens to their recycling.

Discover the wonderfully named Association of Cleansing Superintendents of Great Britain and how it grew to have 17,000 members in its current iteration; cringe at the perils of bin juice; and feel the tension rise when Paul’s jokes about the waste management industry being a front for organised crime turn out to be closer to the truth than he imagined.

Learn more about plastic packaging and how it can be processed in the Fifty Four Degrees article here: https://doc.your-brochure-online.co.uk/Lancaster-University_FiftyFourDegrees_Issue_21/14/

And read the PPiPL white paper, Waste Matters, here: https://zenodo.org/records/10839761

Episode Transcript