World Environment Day: why food must be part of the conversation about plastic

Tackling plastic pollution means looking at what we eat, and how it’s produced

Plastic pollution is the focus of this year’s World Environment Day, and with good reason. From packaging in landfills to nets in the ocean and microscopic fragments in food and water, plastic waste now touches every part of the planet. However, one major contributor is often left out of the discussion: our food system.

The 2025 World Environment Day campaign, led by the United Nations Environment Programme, calls for collective action to tackle plastic pollution and for systemic change that addresses its root causes. That includes how we produce, use, and discard plastics across entire systems, including agriculture and food supply chains.

Net result of harmful ghost gear 

Fish is often perceived as a lower-impact, more sustainable alternative to meat, especially by those following a pescatarian diet. But the environmental cost of industrial fishing is significant and often underestimated: nowhere is the overlap between food and plastic more visible than in the ocean.

While items such as straws and takeaway containers often dominate the headlines, one of the biggest sources of marine plastic is abandoned fishing gear. So-called ghost gear refers to nets, traps, and longlines lost or discarded at sea. Each year, an estimated 2% to 2.5% of all fishing gear is lost, amounting to 78,000 square kilometres of nets and more than 25 million traps and pots.¹ The total length of longlines lost annually could circle the Earth almost 60 times.

This gear doesn’t just vanish. It drifts through marine ecosystems, trapping animals and damaging habitats. According to non-profit World Animal Protection, more than 100,000 whales, seals, and sea lions die in ghost nets each year². Coral reefs, seagrass beds, and spawning grounds are also harmed. And because most modern fishing gear is made from plastic, it breaks down slowly into microplastics that remain in the environment for decades.

Ghost gear is also a major contributor to plastic hotspots such as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, where an estimated 75% to 86% of floating plastic comes from industrial fishing operations³.

Even from a purely economic perspective, the impact is stark. About 90% of species caught in ghost gear are commercially valuable, and studies suggest fish stocks in affected areas can decline by up to 30% as a result of habitat damage.^{4 5 6}.

Pro Environment

A plant-based diet can have numerous positive effects on the environment, including the preservation of biodiversity, more sustainable use of resources, and combatting climate change.

Plastic in farming and food supply chains

While ocean plastics tend to dominate the conversation about plastic pollution, they’re only one part of the picture. On land, agriculture contributes significantly to plastic waste through the widespread use of synthetic materials in food production and distribution.

The environmental impact of our food choices is well established. Agriculture drives 90% of global deforestation⁷, consumes 70% of freshwater⁸, and is a major cause of biodiversity loss. Food systems are responsible for about one-third of global greenhouse gas emissions^{9 10}.

What’s less well known by the public, largely because it gets less media coverage, is how much plastic pollution is generated by food systems. And the contribution isn’t limited to supermarket packaging. Plastic is built into farming itself, including mulch films, fertiliser bags, irrigation systems, transport crates, and protective coverings. These forms of embedded plastic rarely make headlines, yet they account for a significant share of the waste entering terrestrial ecosystems.

Microplastics, for instance, are not just found in the ocean. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, agricultural soils may now contain more microplastics than the seas¹¹. This is the result of degraded plastic sheeting, irrigation pipes, fertiliser coatings, and sludge from wastewater treatment. Once plastic enters the soil, it can affect soil health, water absorption, and even enter the food chain.

Changing what we eat can help change the system

So how does plant-based eating fit in? By reducing demand for industrial fishing and livestock production, plant-based diets help ease the pressures that contribute to plastic pollution in the ocean and on land.

Plant-based foods use fewer inputs and generate fewer emissions. And, of course, unlike fishing, they don’t rely on nets, longlines, or traps that can end up as ghost gear¹². And they avoid the intensive supply chains of industrial animal agriculture, which depend heavily on plastic-wrapped feed, fertiliser, irrigation systems, and transport packaging.

If dietary patterns were to shift significantly, the systems that support them would begin to shift too, including their environmental impact. Of course, that doesn’t mean every plant-based product is plastic-free. But reducing reliance on the sectors most responsible for ghost gear and agricultural plastic is a meaningful way to lower the plastic footprint of what we eat.

With global negotiations on a plastics treaty underway, this year’s World Environment Day is a timely reminder that tackling plastic pollution means looking at systems, not just symptoms. Food production is one of them. When we change what we eat, we help change the system.

Simon Middleton

Senior Writer

1. Richardson, K., et al. (2022): Science Advances 8(41), eabq0135. doi:10.1126/sciadv.abq0135
2. World Animal Protection. [Online] https://www.worldanimalprotection.org/our-campaigns/past-campaigns/sea-change/
3. Lebreton, L., et al. (2022): Scientific Reports 12(1), 12666. doi:10.1038/s41598-022-16529-0
4. Frenkel, C., et al. (2023): Marine Pollution Bulletin 196. doi:10.1016/j.marpolbul.2023.115528
5. Al-Masroori, H., et al. (2004): Fisheries Research 69(3), 407–414. doi:10.1016/j.fishres.2004.05.014
6. Gallagher, A., et al. (2023): Marine Policy 148. doi:10.1016/j.marpol.2022.105386
7. FAO (2022): FRA 2020 Remote Sensing Survey. FAO Forestry Paper No. 186. https://doi.org/10.4060/cb9970en
   
8. UNESCO, UN-Water (2020): United Nations World Water Development Report 2020
9.  Crippa, M., et al. (2021): Nature Food 2(3), 198–209. doi:10.1038/s43016-021-00225-9
10. Xu, X., et al. (2021): Nature Food 2(9), 724–732. doi:10.1038/s43016-021-00358-x
11. FAO (2021): Microplastics in soils. https://openknowledge.fao.org/items/94eb5786-232a-496f-8fcf-215a59ebb4e3
12. United Nations Environment Programme (2024): Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee on Plastic Pollution. https://www.unep.org/inc-plastic-pollution