Plastic pollution, once seen mainly as an ocean issue, is now understood as a threat across the entire life cycle of plastics – impacting climate, biodiversity and human health. Scientific evidence shows that every stage, from fossil fuel extraction to use to waste (mis)management, harms the environment and disproportionately affects vulnerable populations, violating basic human rights, including the rights to life, health, food, water, information and a clean, healthy and sustainable environment. The proposed Global Plastics Treaty should explicitly integrate human rights to strengthen its effectiveness. Doing so would align it with existing international agreements, such as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the Aarhus Convention and the Escazú Agreement, reinforcing obligations to protect people from pollution. Hazardous chemicals in plastics, often hidden or underreported by industry, pose direct and indirect threats to human health and well-being. Recognizing the right to science and access to information is key for public participation and accountability. Many countries, including regional blocs and alliances, support a rights-based approach for the Global Plastics Treaty. Human rights can be embedded in all parts of the treaty, from its preamble to implementation mechanisms. This integration not only enhances environmental protection but also ensures social justice. Without such an approach, governments risk future legal challenges for failing to protect citizens from the harms of plastic pollution.

Ocean plastic pollution is a global issue, but many small island states lack relevant research studies and data. Microplastics are a major concern due to their persistence, entry into food chains and potential to transfer pollutants. Fish gastrointestinal tracts are easy to sample and provide a useful indicator of pollution levels. In 2024, we sampled 201 reef fish spanning 44 species from Funafuti Atoll, Tuvalu, to provide the first baseline microplastic data from this island nation. In total, 75 individuals (37.3%) contained microplastics. The mean occurrence was 0.72 ± 1.16 (mean ± SD) particles per fish, with a maximum of 5 particles per fish found in individuals of four species: Aphareus rutilans, Mulloidichthys flavolineatus, Mulloidichthys vanicolensis and Sargocentron spiniferum. When focusing analyses on seven species with 10 or more individual samples, generalized linear models found no significant differences among species, but revealed fish had significantly more microplastics close to the most populous islet Fongafale (0.95 ± 1.26 particles per individual), compared to rural islets Papaelise and Funafala (0.28 ± 0.77 particles per individual). Fibers were the most common microplastic, and polypropylene was the dominant polymer. This study confirms microplastic presence within the gastrointestinal tracts of key food fish from Funafuti lagoon, emphasizing the need for further research.

With plastic pollution continuing to rise, there has been increasing interest in bioplastics as potential solution. While protein and starch-based bioplastics offer biodegradable properties, many still rely on non-sustainable starch sources. For these materials to be effective, they need to be both biodegradable and sustainably sourced. Just as importantly, the public, as the end users, need to find them appealing and understand what makes them different. This study evaluates perception of bioplastics and the possible applications of the starch-protein blend biopolymers (SPBBs) made from: Potato, Tapioca, Sago and Swamp Taro. Through public survey and focus group, the study found that age and education influenced people’s understanding of terms like “biodegradable” and “biobased.” While most were familiar with biodegradability, fewer understood biobased, though many were open to paying up to 5% more for sustainable alternatives. The results also showed that 74% of people use plastic alternatives, and 80% identified packaging, especially food packaging, as major source of pollution. In the focus group, participants prioritised sustainability, cost, clarity and colour. They also suggested using media campaigns, influencers and clearer labelling to boost public awareness. Future research should investigate public understanding of bioplastics and their cost implications to encourage shift towards more sustainable, environmentally friendly choices.

The inability of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC) to reach agreement on a legally binding Global Plastics Treaty at INC-5.2 in August 2025 reflects deep geopolitical and economic divisions that limit international environmental governance. While most countries in the High-Ambition Coalition supported upstream interventions, including capping plastic production and phasing out hazardous chemical additives, oil-producing states (members of the Like-Minded group) pushed to limit the treaty to waste management and recycling (downstream measures). This deadlock carries profound implications: escalating plastic pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, impacting the trust in multilateral institutions that rely on consensus and the growing influence of petrochemical lobbies. Moving forward may require reforming negotiation procedures that do not rely on consensus, making evidence-based policymaking a priority, supporting equity and just transition principles and leveraging regional leadership and civil society mobilisation. Despite the current stalemate, the urgency of the plastics crisis underscores the necessity of renewed global commitment to an ambitious and equitable Global Plastics Treaty.

Microplastics are widely discussed as a pervasive environmental issue, yet decisive action and turning them into a governable “policy object” has proven to be slow and challenging. This paper investigates the shifting and heterogeneous problem framings of microplastic pollution and the regulatory complexities that emerge from them. Drawing on research from science and technology studies, we analyze how microplastics remained “hidden in plain sight” for decades, obscured by limited scientific standardization, competing problematizations, debates over scientific evidence, widespread cultural imaginaries and economic interests. The research reveals that the path from scientific knowledge to policy action is not linear but a process of co-production, where public concern, scientific capabilities and political agendas continuously reshape one another. We trace the evolution of the issue – from marine pollution to other media, human health and now nanoplastics – highlighting how each shift opens up new questions posing new (regulatory) challenges. The findings demonstrate that effective environmental governance requires more than data; it demands a critical understanding of the complex innovation pathways that produce such residues. We conclude that durable solutions require extended infrastructures of responsibility and care and the development of adaptive institutional frameworks capable of navigating scientific uncertainty and contested values.

Marine litter, predominantly plastic, is a global environmental threat, which management is hindered by the absence of large-scale monitoring tools. This study extends a framework to detect Floating Marine Macro-Litter (FMML) in the complex waters of the Pearl River Estuary (PRE) and Hong Kong, using the MARIne Debris Archive benchmark dataset and Sentinel-2 imagery. A comparative analysis showed that a Random Forest (RF) classifier – leveraging spectral indices and textural features – significantly outperformed a U-Net model, achieving higher macro-F1 scores and precision. Applying the RF classifier to the PRE from 2017 to 2024, results revealed distinct spatial–temporal patterns, with FMML peaks in March and September linked to seasonal hydrology and complex circulation. Detection results deviated from summer clean-up ground truth data, suggesting that high hydrodynamic energy processes may cause rapid transport, submergence, or stranding, reducing satellite visibility. Although the model faced generalization challenges, it demonstrated strength in identifying large accumulations related to circulation and regional debris traits. This research underscores the potential of satellite monitoring while emphasizing the need for regionally calibrated models that integrate hydrodynamic data to align remote sensing with on-ground realities, ultimately supporting mitigation in dynamic coastal environments.

Microplastic (MP) pollution in terrestrial ecosystems is attracting global attention. The transfer of MPs in terrestrial food chains remains poorly understood, particularly in poultry systems. This study investigates polystyrene (PS) MP transfer and surface weathering characteristics in an “earthworm-chicken” food chain by feeding chickens earthworms that had been previously exposed to PS MPs and by oral gavage. The results showed that MP concentrations decreased from soil (10.06 ± 0.03 mg/g) to earthworm casts (6.39 ± 1.05 mg/g) to chicken faeces (3.76 ± 0.39 mg/g), and the transfer process of MPs in the “earthworm-chicken” food chains is characterized by continuous fragmentation. MPs were distributed throughout different parts of the chickens’ digestive tract after 3 h oral gavage and were only detected in the faeces after 24 h. Scanning electron microscopy and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy revealed that MPs underwent varying degrees of weathering in the earthworm casts, chicken faeces and gastrointestinal tract, exhibiting surface holes and cracks. Compared with pristine MPs, the significantly higher carbonyl index of MPs in the gizzard demonstrates the key role of the gizzard in MP fragmentation. This study contributes to understanding the trophic transfer and fragmentation processes of MPs in chickens, and provides a basis for future research on the environmental processes of MPs in terrestrial food chains.

Bioluminescence is a predominant phenomenon in marine environments, the production of light by living organisms through enzyme-mediated chemical reactions involving luciferin, the light-emitting substrate and luciferase, the enzyme that catalyses its oxidation. In the deep sea, bioluminescence is not merely a visual trait but a critical ecological function supporting prey capture, mate recognition, communication and other species interactions. Recent evidence indicates that plastic exposure can alter bioluminescent responses through ingestion, tissue stress, oxidative damage and interference with chemical signalling pathways. This is of growing concern because plastic debris and microplastics are increasingly detected from surface waters to abyssal environments, making them bioavailable to deep-sea organisms. Since many deep-sea organisms depend on bioluminescence for survival and reproduction, any impairment of light production mechanisms can influence not only individual fitness but also prey–predator interactions, trophic transfer and ecosystem functioning. This letter highlights plastic pollution as an emerging threat to deep-sea bioluminescence and calls for long-term monitoring and policy attention to protect biological light-mediated ecological processes in the deep ocean.

To inform decision making for the sustainable use of plastic, policymakers require accounts of all short-term and long-term use of plastic at a national level. However, the underlying data used for plastics accounting require extensive time and effort for collation or estimation. Generative AI has recently demonstrated promise in research tools due to its use of extensive knowledge bases. In this study, we tested whether GPT, the model behind Open Artificial Intelligence’s ChatGPT, could produce estimates for plastic accounting tasks that are comparable to experts. Fine-tuned GPT-3.5 turbo models were used for two tasks: (i) estimating the material composition of imported products by plastic type and (ii) estimating the volumes tested whether the training dataset size and modifying model hyper-parameters improved performance. Increasing the training dataset size was found to improve the performance of models trained for the first task, while increasing the number of training rounds improved the precision and accuracy of models trained for the second task. However, in both tasks models did not provide estimates comparable to those provided by experts. Although future generative AI models that are specifically trained for accounting tasks may increasingly become useful tools for reducing manual work, currently they do not provide reliable estimates.

Since publishing its first article in May 2023, Cambridge Prisms: Plastics has established itself as a leading platform for interdisciplinary, policy-relevant scholarship addressing the global plastics crisis. The journal has published research spanning political economy, activism, waste management, chemical safety, life-cycle assessment and environmental justice, united by a commitment to societal relevance and actionable insights. Its contributions have informed policy debates, supported international negotiations, strengthened civil society advocacy and fostered collaborations across disciplines, sectors and regions. A notable achievement was the 2025 collection of open letters from more than 60 experts calling for ambitious measures within the global plastics treaty negotiations. The journal has now received its first Impact Factor (5.3) and CiteScore (4.2), placing it in the top quartile of Environmental Studies journals. While these metrics signal strong early visibility and scholarly engagement, they should be interpreted cautiously as partial and short-term indicators. More significant is the journal’s growing influence in connecting research, policy and practice to drive meaningful change.

The accumulation of plastic in the oceans is a global environmental problem that requires international solutions. In 2022, the UN Environment Assembly launched negotiations for a Global Plastics Treaty (GPT). In four years of negotiations, an Intergovernmental Negotiations Committee has promoted seven meetings to reach an agreement. This research analyzes the GPT negotiation process through the lens of the two-level game theory, seeking to understand how domestic and international constraints influence Brazil’s position during the agreement formation. We analyzed negotiation documents as well as public hearings from Brazilian representatives and non-state actors as well as surveys. Regarding analysis procedures, the research is qualitative and relies on content analysis. We observe the country’s material challenges in consolidating, at the international level, a policy that tries to balance proposals promoted domestically around the bioeconomy and the green development agenda without compromising economic interests.

Floods have a large impact on the mobilization, distribution and retention of macroplastic in rivers. Some of the transported plastic is deposited on riverbanks and floodplains. However, the specific deposition patterns, that is, where precisely macroplastics are deposited across the floodplains, are poorly investigated. We sampled 25 floodplain sites along the Meuse following the 2021 summer flood (>100 year$ {}^{-1} $), and 23 floodplain sites along the IJssel following the 2024 winter flood (4 year$ {}^{-1} $). For each found item, we recorded the landcover element (such as grass, herbaceous, bushes, tree and debris pile) in which it was deposited. Along the IJssel, debris piles contained plastic concentrations of 12.7 #/m2 and 58% of plastic by count, despite covering only 2% of the sampled area. We found that plastic concentrations vary between landcover elements, but also plastic characteristics. Out of the macroplastics deposited in riparian vegetation along the Meuse, 84% were soft plastics or textiles, compared to 53% of items deposited on the ground. This article sheds additional light on the role of vegetation and debris piles on plastic retention caused by floods. Our results can be used to help improve the monitoring, mitigation and reduction of river scale plastic pollution.