Dear Mr President,

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You made a commitment that your second mandate "will be ecological or it won't be", you made a commitment for a complete renewal.

During your victory speech, you said you wanted to make France an ecological nation and carry out historic actions. We therefore call on you for concrete actions against plastic and microplastic pollution which contributes to climate change and affects our health and the future generations.

 

Plastic is in our blood.

A pioneering study published on March 24, 2022, highlights it.

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This new research confirms what we have been saying at No More Plastic for almost three years now: plastic and recycled plastic are poisoning us.

 

Why? Because plastic create microplastics throughout its life cycle.

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This circular economy for plastics that so many industries are embracing as the so-called solution to plastic pollution is slowly poisoning us with microplastics.

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The plastic pollution not only pollutes our planet.

It contributes to global warming.

It pollutes our blood, poisons our organism because microplastics cause damage to human cells.  

 

These facts should worry us about plastic pollution:

• Microplastics were 10 times higher in the faeces of babies compared with adults.

• Babies fed with plastic bottles are swallowing millions of microplastic particles a day.

• Babies, children and women are more vulnerable to chemical and particle exposure.

• Microplastics can latch on to the outer membranes of red blood cells and may limit their ability to transport oxygen.

• Particles have also been found in the placentas of pregnant women, and we know they pass rapidly through the lungs into the hearts, brains and other organs of the foetuses.

• Evidences have already been established of the link between plastic and immune system problems, increased chronic diseases, such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease and cancer.

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It is now urgent to act to eradicate plastic pollution.

Do it for the climate, for the environment, for the ocean, for the health of each citizen and for the future.

 

Plastic or more exactly microplastics enter the body by many routes: via air, water or food, but also in products such as particular toothpastes, lip glosses, face/body creams or synthetics clothes, get THE FACTS now.

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The health emergency of plastic pollution is an indisputable.

Half the samples of this study published on March 24, 2022 contained PET (polyethylene terephthalate) one of the most used plastics in the world, which is commonly used in drinks bottles in plastic or recycled plastic and polyester fibers for clothes. 

More than a third contained polystyrene (PS), used for packaging food and other products, such as yoghurt pots for example.

A quarter of the blood samples contained polyethylene (PE), from which plastic carrier bags, some sweets and chewing gum are made.

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You, who have the greatest responsibility that of protecting France and the French people, this plastic pollution which affects every citizen cannot be ignored, cannot be left in silence, cannot put out of action.

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Plastic production is expected to double by 2040. But the more plastic around us, the greater our exposure to microplastics.

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It is more and more urgent, day by day and in particular in view of the exponential increase in the production of plastic.

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How long are these microplastic particles retained in the body?

Can it be eliminated?

Is it retained in certain organs?

Is it even able to pass the blood-brain barrier?

At what levels are they too high and can they trigger disease?

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We urgently need to fund more research so we can find out.

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We call on you for ACTIONS:

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For France:

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1. We call for the urgent adoption of a health law establishing the obligation for industries to bear health warnings on their plastic or recycled plastic packaging:

• A health warning mentioning information relating to the danger of plastic on human health,

• A health warning mentioning microplastics have been ingested by the human body.

• A recommendation that the product should be kept out of the reach of children.

 

The Covid crisis has shown us that it is possible to pass laws urgently, we ask you to do the same with the harmful impact of plastic on our health and on generations to come.​

 

2. We ask for allocate immediately 100 million euros to research on the impacts of plastic on human health.

The EU is already funding research into the impact of microplastics on fetuses and babies, and on the immune system.

 

3. We ask for allocate 80 million euros per year to research and development of real solutions, such as strains of bacteria capable of degrading plastic. This solution would allow us to get rid of them definitively all the plastic waste present in landfills, in the ocean, on our beaches. Put an end to this plastic waste that we don't know what to do with, because of course it is important to collect plastic waste, but it is even more important to know what we do with it.

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4. We ask for that all donations made to help research in these areas be 100% tax exempt. It is urgent that research progress and progress quickly. The future of humanity is at stake.

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5. We ask for that the practice and any process aimed at recycling plastic to new product be prohibited.

The creation of recycled plastic perpetuates the creation of plastic pollution, and therefore microplastics that harm our health.

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6. We ask for that the request made to the French government by the Coca-Cola, Danone and Nestlé groups, asking that the concept of "single use" not apply to their recycled packaging, be refused in view of the dangerousness of this material on our health and that of our children.

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7. We call for the denunciation about the goal of recycling 100% of plastics by 2025 (France’s Anti-waste and Circular Economy Law). France paid 1.2 billion euros in "plastic tax" to the European Union in 2021 (data from INSEE), because of its delay in plastic recycling.

It is a heresy. 

It's time to stop recycling plastic, it's not the solution, it's just contributing to the problem.

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For Europe:

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1. We ask for the application of a "microplastic tax" for all manufacturers who participate in this health crisis through their practice. This "microplastic tax" would be calculated based on the volume of plastic or recycled plastic packaging that manufacturers produce or sale per year.

 

2. We ask for that every brand producing clothing containing nylon, polyester, or Econyl (a type of high-quality nylon made entirely from waste) or other synthetic material made from plastic be required to mention the dangerousness of such a material in contact with the skin, and also have the obligation to mention that these garments release particles of microplastics into the air during use and into the water during washing. These mentions must be obligatory on the labels at the place where the compositions are mentioned. As consumers we have a right to have access to this information for our health, for our safety.

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3. We ask for that industries using plastic or recycled plastic as well as manufacturers of swimwear, textiles made from Econyl fiber or other plastic-based synthetic materials be prohibited from using the term "eco-friendly" , or "sustainable" or any other adjective suggesting that it contributes to protect the nature, the planet, the ocean in their marketing and advertising, under penalty of criminal sanctions for misleading commercial practices.

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France has the opportunity to act, to inspire people to act, to do something historically significant.

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