A few days ago, the resumed session of the fifth United Nations Environment Conference adopted the resolution on ending plastic pollution (Draft), which was approved and signed by heads of state, environment ministers and other representatives from 175 countries. The resolution points out that an Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee will be established to reach an internationally legally binding agreement by 2024, covering all aspects of plastic product design, production, recycling and treatment. The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) said that this resolution will promote the parties concerned to fundamentally change the way they produce, consume and manage plastic wastes. It is an important international multilateral environmental resolution since the signing of the Paris Agreement on climate change.

The invention of plastics was once called "a masterpiece of mankind". Since the 19th century, plastics have been "expanding the territory", ranging from straws and headropes to automobiles and industrial equipment. Cheap and high-quality plastic products are everywhere and no one uses them. However, while plastics bring convenience to people's lives, they also create a sexual environmental challenge that people have to face. According to the data of the United Nations Environment Programme, the global plastic production has soared from 2 million tons in 1950 to 348 million tons in 2017. According to OECD data, less than 10% of plastics in the world are recycled. High yield and low recovery rate mean that more and more plastic wastes enter the natural environment, threatening human health and global sustainable development. Some data show that so far, mankind has produced more than 8.3 billion tons of plastic, of which about 6.3 billion tons have become plastic garbage. On average, one truck of plastic garbage enters the sea every minute.

How to make the plastic industry realize the regeneration of clean cycle, so as to end the plastic pollution? The newly adopted resolution of the United Nations Environment assembly emphasizes the full life cycle management of plastics, takes the reuse and recycling of plastic products into consideration at the design stage, and focuses on the diversified treatment of plastic pollution. As ESPON Barth Eide of the UN Environment Conference pointed out, "if plastics are included in the circular economy system, plastics can be completely recycled. It is timely to issue legally binding resolutions to end the plastic pollution crisis." Through the strict management of plastic product design, production, recycling and treatment, it is expected that human beings will greatly reduce or even end plastic pollution.

In the production process, we can find a balance between paying attention to environmental protection and realizing economic benefits by integrating the concept of sustainable development and making full use of technological innovation; In the aspect of consumption, we should encourage people to change their behavior and reduce the consumption of plastic products from the legal level. Through every small change in consumption habits, we can pool the great energy to reduce the use of plastic products; In the aspect of recycling, scientists and enterprises in some countries have started to take actions to improve the recycling rate of plastic waste by using degrading enzymes to degrade, make prefabricated boards for paving, turn into rocket fuel or make plastic products again.

Plastic pollution is a sexual challenge, and ending plastic pollution requires joint efforts. Managing the whole life cycle of plastic products in a more sustainable way is an important step in the treatment of plastic pollution. To achieve the goal of ending plastic pollution, the society needs to take persistent actions.