- Location
- Zoom
- Series/Type
- Alumni Event, DLSPH Event, Faculty/Staff Event, Student Event
- Format
- Online
- Dates
- April 10, 2025 from 12:00pm to 1:00pm
Links
Title: Convenience does not equate to necessity: Mitigating the harms of single-use plastics in healthcare
Presenter: Dr. Jeremy Greene
Abstract: After 18 months of negotiations, in November 2024, representatives of 200 nations failed to come to agreement around the terms of a multilateral, legally binding treaty to mitigate the harms of plastic pollution. A coalition of oil-producing nations and industry groups opposed capping plastic production, arguing that efforts should only focus on managing waste. Proposed text for the treaty also included a blanket exemption of plastic products for medical and health uses and responses to public health emergencies. In this seminar, we will examine discourses around single-use, disposable, plastic products in healthcare including the ways that medically-related industry has promoted the idea that these products are not only convenient, but necessary. We will discuss the need for counter-measures to resist efforts by the petrochemical industry to undermine the precautionary principle, explore how to support other stakeholders, like engineers and manufacturers exploring alternatives to single-use plastics, and ask how healthcare can play a leading role in mitigating the health harms of plastic.
