Tokyo: Plastic waste leakage to the environment in Southeast Asian countries, along with China, Japan, and South Korea, could increase by nearly 70 percent if effective measures are not taken, warned a report by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

According to TRTworld.com, the Regional Plastics Outlook report highlighted that driven by rising incomes and living standards, plastic use in the region is projected to almost double in the absence of more ambitious policies. The report emphasized that the member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) are expected to see a near tripling of plastic waste.

The report noted that regional plastic waste rose dramatically from 10 million tons in 1990 to 113 million tons in 2022. It pointed out that informal and unsafe practices, such as open burning and dumping, persist in most ASEAN countries and China, particularly in rural areas. Plastic waste poses a significant environmental issue, polluting rivers and oceans and presenting health risks to both wildlife and humans as microplastics enter the body.

The report projects that annual leakage into the environment in the region could reach 14.1 million tons by 2050, with 5.1 million tons potentially reaching rivers, coastal areas, and oceans. The countries in the region vary widely in waste management capabilities, with plastic use in 13 countries surging almost ninefold from 17 million tons in 1990 to 152 million tons in 2022. With over half of the plastic used in the region having a lifespan of less than five years, much of it quickly becomes waste.

The report also noted that plastic use in the region might drop by 28 percent through ambitious actions, including bans on single-use plastics and taxes. These measures could raise the recycling rate to 54 percent and reduce mismanaged waste by 97 percent.

In a related development, talks for an international legally binding treaty on plastics pollution resumed on Tuesday in Geneva, following previous discussions in South Korea that collapsed due to differences in measures on plastic output curbs and waste management.