00:01A few minutes of use, a few centuries to decompose.
00:05This is single-use plastic.
00:08Global plastic production has doubled since 2000 and could triple again by 2016.
00:14Every minute it is said that a garbage truck full of plastic ends up in the oceans.
00:19Cleaning and recycling are no longer sufficient.
00:21Europe wants to tackle pollution at the source.
00:25On the eve of a possible global treaty on plastic, some are taking action now.
00:29We're starting our journey in Croatia.
00:39On one of Europe's most beautiful coastlines, four ferries a day take you to the island of Zlarin.
00:48Its crystal clear waters and its coral museum.
00:52Every summer this little corner of paradise alone consumes more than 150,000 single-use plastic items.
00:58Bags, cups, cutlery.
01:01Until the day the locals set stop.
01:04Hi Katarina.
01:05Welcome to our island.
01:06I was just looking at the water.
01:08I can't see plastic.
01:10Maybe you should take some glasses or microscope to check it.
01:14There is definitely plastic inside.
01:16In 2018, citizens, NGOs and retailers signed a charter to commit to reducing their plastic consumption as much as possible.
01:25This restaurant has sourced more sustainable materials.
01:30It changes the thinking and other people.
01:34We have to say that the beginning is a big problem.
01:40A hundred meters further along the keysides gone are the bags and disposable cups of the island's grocery shop.
01:46This is my home.
01:48And these are our plastic bags.
01:51It's a return.
01:52For Zlarin without plastic, it really suggests that we are trying to be without plastic and especially without single-use plastic.
02:00Six summers later, several tons of waste have probably been prevented, but plastic has not yet disappeared.
02:07We do a lot of efforts and there is no end to that, but it doesn't mean that we should stop trying.
02:14We have to reduce our plastic fingerprint, like they said, because it's our planet, it's our survival.
02:24The European Union was a pioneer in banning certain single-use plastic items as of 2021.
02:29Since then, data has shown a drop in coastal pollution.
02:33But back on the Croatian mainland, I still saw quite a few in the pretty town of Trogir.
02:44We see you have sustainable spoons, not plastic, not anymore.
03:01The problem is that these items can take centuries to decompose and that doesn't even mean they disappear.
03:07According to one study, plastic particles are found inside half of the fish here in the Adriatic Sea.
03:1280% of this plastic that we can find on the beach, it comes from the land.
03:18That is single-use plastic.
03:19In the nature, it will compose on the smaller pieces and it becomes microplastic.
03:26So, marine organisms take food, then we eat also the fish, so that is a food chain.
03:35And in the end, we also eat plastic.
03:37We need to be rid of single-use plastic.
03:40The town of Trogir has decided to tackle this plastic problem.
03:47It has launched an action plan with the support of the NGO Sunseer.
03:50The city has also set an example by banning single-use plastic from all municipal institutions.
03:51The city has also set an example by banning single-use plastic from all municipal institutions.
03:53The city has also set an example by banning single-use plastic from all municipal institutions.
04:00I calculated that we used two tons of plastic, and we reduced single-use plastic for two tons.
04:07I was shocked.
04:08I couldn't believe it that it's such a big number for such a small city.
04:14The next step is to reduce its consumption in public spaces by offering lower rents to plastic-free restaurants.
04:21We've seen that some ice cream shops are still using single-use plastics. Can you do something?
04:28More recently, the European Union adopted a series of other policies to improve the recyclable
04:45which is important to have no-one divisions
04:48which are supported by the system.
04:53More recently, the European Union adopted a series of other policies
04:56to improve the recyclability of our everyday packaging,
04:59or to limit the leakage of plastic pellets during maritime transport.
05:06A new European Ocean Pact was also unveiled
05:09at the United Nations Ocean Conference in Nice.
05:15In this area that is open to the public,
05:18plastic pollution was a central theme.
05:20The three big messages are to reduce and to use the most possible.
05:23And in the third, it is to recycle, but only in the third.
05:27In the EU pavilion, this digital twin of the ocean
05:30combines European data to simulate the impact of our actions.
05:34We will be able to emit virtual plastic from Nice
05:38to look at its propagation in the Méditerranée.
05:41But we can also go back into the past
05:44and see the origin of the plastic.
05:46If I reduce the 50% of the rivers and the coast,
05:50we will reduce the plastic pollution
05:52during a simulation of two years.
05:54What could happen in case of international treaties?
05:57Exactly.
05:58The draft of a future binding agreement was one of the hot topics
06:04in the official delegation zone.
06:05This is the plenary.
06:06It is here that countries have announced
06:07to improve the health of the oceans.
06:08In the case of the World Agreement for the biodiversity
06:10to protect 30% of the oceans from 2030.
06:12The ocean has regulated the public climate.
06:13The Ministry of Environment has been called
06:14a treaty to take into account the duration of the plastic.
06:15the duration of the past.
06:16Negotiations on the treaty will resume in August in Geneva.
06:30While some countries want to focus on waste treatment,
06:33the EU and 95 countries have launched a Nice wake-up call
06:36for the agreements to really reduce plastic production
06:39and harmful molecules.
06:41It is not against plastic as such,
06:43but it is against how to prevent it from pollution.
06:46So that is one important thing,
06:48to actually have the whole life circle of plastic,
06:51not only the recycled part, but also from the start.
06:54How are the negotiations going?
06:56I think they are going fine.
06:57Of course these multilateral negotiations are difficult always,
07:02but for us as Europeans it is important to get a treaty
07:05and we will try to encourage and lean on that.
07:07Secretary General.
07:08Good morning.
07:09Do you think we can reach an agreement on plastic?
07:11You are asking the wrong person.
07:12I am an optimist.
07:13Of course I will reiterate the call to all the stakeholders
07:16to get together.
07:17We share the same objective.
07:19We just need to find a way to move forward
07:21and address the concerns.
07:23To not do a treaty for the pleasure of making a treaty,
07:26it must be a treaty with strong commitments.
07:29The plastic is in train to pollute all nature
07:32and even the human body.
07:35The oceans need action now and that is urgent.
07:39I think being here in Nice also helps
07:41to have seized this momentum.
07:43It is moving forward and I am quite hopeful
07:45that we will get an agreement in August.
07:49That is the end of this episode.
07:51See you in September on the road to a deplasticised world.
07:54I am going to ride.
08:04I ampop Hoodos.
08:05I am gone.
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