circular economy

As world leaders meet in Geneva, Switzerland, for the final round of the fifth session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee on Plastic Pollution (INC-5.2) one truth must not be overlooked: Plastic pollution is also a gender issue.

In commemoration of this year's World Environment Day, a group of Civil Society actors working to end plastic pollution in Kenya are sounding the alarm on the urgent need for concrete action from Kenya’s government to end plastic pollution across its lifecycle. The escalating plastic pollution crisis is threatening our environment, health and marine ecosystems. With this year's World Environment Day theme focused on #EndingPlasticPollution, the coalition highlights the escalating plastic pollution crisis threatening our environment, health and marine ecosystems.

In Kenya, there are more waste pickers than men. This clearly indicates that women, bear the brunt of the impact of plastic pollution, which is not merely environmental but deeply intertwined with pre-existing gender inequalities. Many women find themselves relegated to the informal waste sector, where job security is uncertain, wages are inadequate, and workplace conditions are not unsafe. The rise in plastic waste only complicates these inequities, disproportionately affecting women who are already vulnerable.

Today, the Heinrich Böll Foundation is publishing the digital non-fiction book Unpacked! Plastic, Waste, and Me.

A world without plastic pollution is a vision worth fighting for. The Plastic Atlas provides facts and figures about a world full of plastics.