Plastics Problem Impacting our health

Te Ipukarea Society was recently represented by June Hosking at the 3 day Fiji National Symposium on Plastic Pollution Prevention, hosted by Fiji's Pacific Islands Climate Action Network. The symposium was supported by UN Trade & Development and UNDP. Following are her reflections.

This intensive symposium was a platform for networking and knowledge sharing with the aim of collaborative action to address the critical issue of plastic pollution in the Pacific Region.

The range of stakeholders, mainly from Fiji, included Tourism, Waste, Environment, Infrastructure, USP Research, bottled water and soft drinks manufacturers, garment makers, fisheries, banks, policy & legislation people, and NGOs working with youth, empowering indigenous stakeholders, and public awareness.

The many presentations and robust discussions worked towards a strategic blueprint for Fiji's National Action Plan. They were looking for gaps and weaknesses in the present supply chain and figuring out what areas the Pacific can be proactive in, given that we are not the main producers of plastic, but are suffering the consequences of plastics in our everyday lives.

We were tasked with looking at what is being done and what could be done in the areas of Behaviour Change, Infrastructure, Research & Innovation, Policy, and Finance, in relation to the supply chain for plastics - Design, Generation & use, Segregation, Collection, Processing, and Disposal.

I found the size of the plastic pollution problem was overwhelming as I learned the situation is far worse than I had realised.

I imagine that, like me, most people consider plastic pollution as an enormous waste management problem that must be tackled. But what became clear was that when it comes to plastics, management isn't a real option because the toxic cycle begins from when plastic is made. Then, when considering the recycling of plastics, it’s just the cycling of toxic chemicals that are literally killing us.

I was horrified to discover that 'recycled' plastics are actually downcycled, being turned into fibres used to stuff pillows and other things that we come in close contact with. In some places nano plastics are being detected in the atmosphere as waves crash on the shore and send mist up, or as heat rises from dumps and landfills, even from buried plastics. These nano plastics are being breathed in and are doing real harm.

One lady shared a story from a remote village in Fiji where the children have suffered skin problems, eventually linked to the ground they were playing on, an old buried dump. Micro and nano plastics were found present in the dirt.

A scientist from New Zealand shared very real concerns with regards to agri-plastics, the use of plastics in agriculture. An example here in the Cook Islands would be the polythene used to suppress weeds around taro and pineapples. Soil, plant and animal tests are revealing nano plastics which end up in humans as well as threatening soil and above ground biodiversity.

Long term studies began well over 50 years ago reveal connections between plastic toxins and human reproduction e.g infertility, abnormalities and NCDs including cancer obesity. We saw slides from research carried out on genetically identical rats; one was introduced to a tiny dose of a common plastic toxin that humans consume daily via drinks and food stored in plastic bottles, containers and packets. The toxin was introduced to the rat at the fetal stage. Once born, all the rats were given the same habitat, food, exercise etc. The contaminated rat offspring containing plastic toxin was so obese it would be funny if it were fiction, as it's little face was dwarfed by a massive body. It was frightening to think that a pregnant Mum, doing the supposedly right thing by drinking water from a plastic bottle, could actually be doing more harm than good. The plastic bottle is likely fine to start with, but leaches toxins as it gets older or is exposed to sun and heat. Because heat accelerates the release of toxins, hot takeaways served in plastic containers may also be a concern.

Fiji's 'Trashboom Pacific' have developed a robust portable catchment system that allows them to collect weekly data of trash in water ways and coastal waters. Collections over a long period in one waterway revealed about 79% soft plastics, 8% plastic bottles and 13% other materials. In another area nappies and hygiene products made up 34% of the waste trapped in the boom.

Tests on fish, shellfish, other seafood and the water reveal nano plastic contamination. Fibres from fishing ropes, nets etc were highest in ocean nano plastics, but the most common item in Fiji fisheries' plastic waste is from bottles, making up 45% of the total. Going by what we find washing upon our shores in Mauke, this figure came as no surprise to me.

What I had never considered is plastic contamination from our laundry into the soil and waterways, as plastics in the form of synthetic fibres are commonly used in clothing, as is the case for the majority of Cook Islands sports team uniforms.

Palau's CDL (Container Deposit Legislation) and Tuvalu's comprehensive EPR (Extended Producer Responsibility) were touted as global success stories.

I understand the Cook Islands has a National Action Plan for waste, but the Solid and Hazardous Waste Management bill, which includes advanced disposal fees, still awaits completion after many years of discussions. Te Ipukarea Society has email correspondence and draft Solid Waste Management Strategies prepared by Government going back to 2003. It is amazing how much seabed mining related legislation has been passed in that same period!

The ongoing collaborative work between government departments, the private sector and NGOs for better waste management was commended.

I shared some Cook Islands initiatives for Replacing plastics: Reusable Nappies, Reuseable Women's hygiene products, Rent a Plate, Reuseable Bottles, free filtered water stations, glass bottles and jars for local products with options to return glass, and drinks on tap at bars and eateries. Even though I explained a couple of those initiatives haven't taken off, people were still impressed and commented that the Cook Islands is on the right track. Note these initiatives have largely been NGO and private sector driven.

Another topic I brought up was the need for appropriate recognition of the waste management sector. Staff retention is a problem for everyone and as one person agreed, it's time to flip our thinking upside down because without these essential workers, our whole way of life comes crashing down. To this end, I played the short video Mangaia put together with TIS to remind people to look after their workers. Check it out on You Tube, Cook Islands Conservation, 'A day's work for our Tita collectors on Mangaia'.

The take home message for me was, when it comes to plastics there must be only 2 R's in the long term - Refuse and Replace. Having said this, its important we don't all go out tomorrow and throw away our plastic containers because that would be a massive headache for our stressed landfill. However, you may want to repurpose your current plastic containers away from food and beverage storage.