U.N. GLOBAL PLASTICS TREATYHabitable Spotlights Plastic Building Materials on an International Stage
HealthHabitable Spotlights Plastic Building Materials on an International Stage: The Global Plastics Treaty
News
Geneva, Switzerland, is buzzing with energy and anticipation this week as the final round of the Global Plastics Treaty negotiations kicks-off.
I’m thrilled to be here, together with two of my colleagues, Teresa McGrath (Chief Research Officer), and Rebecca Stamm (Principal Researcher). While much of the treaty discussion will focus on single-use plastics and the plastic waste problem, we’re in Geneva to make sure that the shocking amount of plastics in the building and construction sector are no longer overlooked. We’re also alerting attendees that there are already healthier alternatives to plastic building materials.
Since the Global Plastics Treaty Negotiations began in 2022, there has been an ongoing international effort to create a legally binding agreement. A main tension is that ambitious nations want to address the full lifecycle of plastics, including reducing plastic production, mitigating waste, and ending plastic pollution. Many oil and gas producing nations want to limit the treaty to managing plastic waste as a means to avoid production caps. November 2024 was the 5th session – INC-5, which was supposed to be the last. Because agreement was not reached, a final session was created .INC-5.2, will be held in Geneva, August 5-14. The pressure is on!
Preparing for this moment has been intense. We’ve been devouring a whirlwind of reports, articles, and webinars from different scientists, NGOs, and other organizations across the globe to learn more about the Treaty’s draft text, the sticking points, and new science on plastic’s impacts on people and the planet. Testimony from Indigenous Peoples and other marginalized communities that have been disproportionately harmed by plastic pollution—from production to waste—has been particularly poignant.
Hidden in Plain Sight
What is striking to me is that in all of the vast volumes of information being circulated, the building and construction sector is rarely, if ever mentioned. Most plastic reduction efforts focus only on certain single use plastic products or on packaging, which is currently the largest plastics use. Though important, addressing these alone will not be robust enough to mitigate the massive plastics problem.
The building sector is the second largest plastics user and is rapidly growing. Subsidies have made plastics cheap, driving an insatiable demand for plastics and making them ubiquitous in buildings. From flooring and siding, to insulation, and even paint, plastic use in the building and construction sector is on the rise and has the potential to surpass current packaging production in the coming decades. Still, the role of plastics in the built environment is overlooked – truly, “hidden in plain sight”. Despite growth across the globe, many scientists, policymakers, and building professionals are still unaware of the scale and impact of plastic pollution tied to building materials.
The building and construction sector should be recognized in all efforts to address the harms of plastics, however, it is routinely excluded. Reasons that plastic building materials are often ignored in plastic policy discussions could include:
- A lack of awareness of the sector’s massive plastic footprint and growth trajectory
- Misconceptions about their durability. The useful life of plastic building products is shorter than most think, and continues to shrink.
- Limited visibility into the significant health and environmental harms associated with these materials.
Policy Recommendations
The Habitable team is here in Geneva to share our research on the extraordinary volume of plastic building products and the devastating scale of pollution and health impacts at all points in their lifecycle. We developed a policy brief and recommendations, called Buildings’ Hidden Plastic Problem. It currently has 24 endorsing organizations and is translated into Spanish and French.
Meaningful progress at the UN Plastics Treaty negotiations requires addressing more than waste, like plastic bags or straws. Reducing building and construction plastics is also critical to eliminating the harms plastics cause to human health and the environment.
Solutions Exist
There are many no- or low plastic building materials that meet cost and performance criteria. We work with many architectural firms and developers who are already prioritizing healthier, natural alternatives.
Join the leaders moving away from plastic building products. We can help. Our Informed product guidance translates our deep research into a simple red-to-green ranking system. Product types that are ranked yellow or green are healthier options and tend to contain less plastic or avoid the worst plastics—including PVC and polystyrene—while reducing the overall toxic chemical harms over the product life cycle.
Habitable’s Geneva Goals
Habitable supports an ambitious and effective Plastics Treaty. We are in Geneva to advocate for the building and construction sector’s massive plastic problem to be acknowledged and addressed. We will also enlist new global partners in a growing movement to leverage the building sector’s scale to reduce plastics, and partner with leading building professionals as allies towards healthier people and planet. Better solutions exist. Let’s start using them. Follow along on Habitable’s social media for updates on progress and news coming out of Geneva.
HealthPioneering Pathways to Planetary Health: Habitable’s 2024 Milestones
News
In 2024, Habitable experienced significant growth and transformation. Our strategic rebrand from Healthy Building Network to Habitable marked a pivotal shift in how we communicate and achieve our mission. We expanded our organization’s historic focus on green chemistry and on the lifecycle effects of toxic chemicals in building products to scale our results and achieve pollution reduction, climate change mitigation, and equity and environmental justice. Through new and growing partnerships with Beyond Petrochemicals, Cooper Carry architecture and design, and many others, we’ve positioned ourselves to tackle increasingly complex challenges at the intersection of the materials economy and planetary health, ensuring a habitable future for all. Check out our 2024 Year in Review for more information.
Key Milestones That Shaped Our Year
Redefining Our Identity
This year, our transition to Habitable represented more than a name change—it embodies our new vision: All people and the planet thrive when the materials economy is in balance with Earth’s natural systems. . This new identity reflects our team’s capabilities and our evolution towards a more comprehensive approach to creating a path to planetary health. The rebrand has enabled us to activate our mission more broadly, setting the stage for deep engagement with new audiences, and more effective communication of our vision for a healthier planet.
Expanding Our Research Footprint
In 2024, Habitable’s research revealed critical connections between building materials and planetary health. Our groundbreaking policy brief, Buildings’ Hidden Plastic Problem, reported a startling reality: the building and construction sector is the second-largest consumer of plastics globally, behind packaging. This research advances our work among global audiences, reshaping the conversation around plastic pollution by highlighting a crucial opportunity to reduce fossil fuel demand through better building practices. We deepened this investigation through our fact sheet Our Disposable Plastic Buildings, developed in partnership with Perkins&Will, and engaged industry leaders through our webinar Buildings Contribution to Global Plastic Crisis.
Beyond our pioneering work on plastics, we expanded our research to address planetary health challenges across various scales. Our report, Advancing Health and Equity through Better Building Products, highlights examples of leaders within and beyond Minnesota’s built environment who are taking action toward safer material choices and provides guidance on how the real estate industry can begin working towards a healthier future. A joint article with SERA Architects, Healthy Materials and the Constitutional Responsibility for Health and Wellbeing, emphasizes the need to prioritize solutions that address both climate change and toxic pollution in frontline communities. Meanwhile, our webinar Redesigning the Materials Economy for People and Our Planet convened global thought leaders to explore systemic solutions to these same challenges. These interconnected initiatives have positioned Habitable at the forefront of research linking building materials to both environmental and human health outcomes, setting the stage for even deeper investigations in 2025.
Building Stronger Partnerships
Transformative partnerships defined our work in 2024. With support from Beyond Petrochemicals, we launched an innovative research exploring the significant human and environmental impacts from plastics use in the building sector. This collaboration enabled us to highlight the necessity of including the built environment in plastic policy considerations, marking our entry into the global effort to reduce plastic pollution, including a partnership with Dr. Bethanie Carney Almorth, who is involved in the Global Plastics Treaty negotiations. Our growing network of partners—from universities, corporations, government agencies to NGOs—has enriched our approach and expanded our capacity to drive meaningful change.
Growing Our Community
The Habitable team expanded in 2024, welcoming Priya Premchandran, a seasoned sustainability practitioner with over 15 years of experience at the intersection of the built environment and human health, who has already shaped our InformedTM initiative in profound ways. Our presence at major conferences and leading firms across the country–including Greenbuild, Verge, CannonDesign, AIA MN, USGBC Green Schools and more–positioned us within crucial discussions about material health impacts, while our convening a community of practice in Minnesota participation helped forge new connections with built environment innovators, like the Lower Sioux Community. These engagements have not only elevated our voice in key conversations but have also informed our strategic direction.
Looking Ahead
2025 marks Habitable’s 25th anniversary year. The foundations we’ve built in 2024–our strategic rebrand, renewed research focus, strengthened partnerships, and expanded community–position us to pursue our mission and vision with renewed vigor.
The challenges facing planetary health demand bold action and fresh thinking. Through our work, Habitable remains committed to catalyzing the transformative changes needed for a more sustainable and equitable future.
If you have appreciated our resources and efforts, please consider a donation. We look forward to working with you in the new year!
HealthMaterial Challenges Among an Ecological Polycrisis
News
In this opinion piece, architect Martha Lewis addresses the ecological polycrisis of the twenty-first century and its impact on the architectural sector, emphasizing the urgent need for architects to reassess material choices and construction methodologies to mitigate environmental consequences.
HealthHow Plastic Can Harm Your Health
News
Tests by Consumer Reports found bisphenols and phthalates, chemicals used in plastic, in a wide range of packaged foods, raising concerns due to their potential health effects, including disruptions to the endocrine system and associated health issues.
HealthUnderstanding how the environment affects pregnant people’s health
News
Scientists are investigating how exposure to environmental stressors during pregnancy affects the health of both fetuses and pregnant individuals, highlighting the need for further research to protect the almost 130 million people worldwide who give birth annually.
HealthChemicals used in plastic food packaging linked to 10% of preterm births in 2018
News
A study by environmental health experts at New York University suggests that phthalates, chemicals commonly found in plastic food containers and cosmetic products, may have contributed to approximately 10 percent of preterm births in the United States in 2018.
PollutionChemical from East Palestine disaster passes millions by train every day
News
NBC’s Cynthia McFadden interviews an expert from Toxic Free Future about their recent report revealing that over 36 million pounds of vinyl chloride are transported daily on more than 200 rail cars, highlighting the risks similar to those seen in the East Palestine train derailment.
Climate ChangeHow BPA and its evil cousins dodge meaningful regulation
News
Despite its harmful effects, BADGE is not included in Europe’s new food safety guidelines, which focus on bisphenol A (BPA) and a few other bisphenols, highlighting regulatory gaps in addressing this chemical commonly found in common materials.
PollutionChasing Off a Polluting “Chemical Recycling” Plant in PA
News
This spring, Save Our Susquehanna (SOS), a grassroots group in central Pennsylvania, successfully halted Houston-based Encina’s proposed “chemical recycling” plant, one of the largest proposals in the nation.
On April 18, after two years of local opposition, Encina announced it would not proceed with the plant in Point Township, Pennsylvania. This decision marks a significant victory for Pennsylvanians, achieved through the determined efforts of SOS and support from The Climate Reality Project, Clean Air Council, GAIA, and Beyond Plastics. Read on to learn how local advocates united to defeat Encina’s proposal.
PollutionGarbage In, Toxics Out: They Promised “Advanced Recycling” for Plastics and Delivered Toxic Waste
News
The American Chemistry Council promotes chemical recycling as a solution to plastic waste but this article highlights concerns raised by environmentalists about its efficacy and environmental impact, as well as the lobbying efforts to reclassify it as manufacturing in 24 states.