Experts have long known the recipe for ending the plastic pollution crisis gripping the planet. The world, they say, must embrace a process known as circularity, which focuses on prolonging the life of plastic products and keeping plastics out of the environment.
One of the problems? Many businesses that make and use plastic cannot find workers with the technical know-how to make their operations more circular.
“In this region and many others, academic curricula are often playing catchup with environmental crises, including plastic pollution,” says Juan Bello, Director and Representative of the Regional Office for Latin America and Caribbean at the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).
UNEP recently struck a partnership with a network of regional universities to equip students with a host of green skills, including those linked to circularity. We recently spoke with Bello about the agreement and why today’s post-secondary students are key players in the global campaign against plastic pollution.
Why is it important to build a more circular economy for plastics?
Juan Bello (JB): The short answer is that the Earth is being flooded by plastic pollution. Humanity produced 400 million tonnes of plastic waste in 2024, according to one prominent estimate. Much of that plastic ends up in the environment – from farmer’s fields to rivers. This plastic is playing havoc on ecosystems and is in our bodies, with effects on our well-being we do not yet fully understand. A more circular model would help plastic products last longer, and make them easier to recycle and reuse, preventing them from ending up as pollution.
Do today’s university and technical college graduates know much about circularity?
JB: Young people are more conscious than ever about the environmental pressures facing the planet and the potential dangers of plastic pollution. But in Latin America and the Caribbean – and I suspect other regions – many are not necessarily getting the academic instruction they need to help address those problems, at least in a systemic way.
How does that affect the transition to a circular economy for plastics?
JB: It’s slowing it down. There is growing political, business and public support for circularity in this region. But some of the technical solutions needed for the transition require very skilled employees. For example, how do you alter the composition of plastic to make it easier to recycle? Or how do you create an eco-friendly alternative to plastic that is still durable? People who can do those things do not grow on trees.
UNEP’s partnership with ARIUSA is the direct result of the Green Jobs for Youth Pact, a UN push to create 1 million so-called green jobs and make 1 million existing jobs more environmentally friendly. The pact was recently endorsed by environment ministers from Latin America and the Caribbean.
Changing the core curriculums of universities and colleges is a lengthy process – something that can take years if not decades. So, how will you tackle that problem?
JB: The long-term goal is to help universities and technical colleges develop curricula that address sustainability in a systemic way. But you are right – that takes a long time. So, in the near term, we are focusing on shorter, skills-based courses developed by educational institutions, ideally in collaboration with the private sector. Some of these micro-credentials could also be done after graduation. The aim is to quickly equip students with the real-world skills desired by employers.
What kinds of fields will you be focusing on?
JB: The short answer: many. Circularity requires technical skills, yes, but also a shift in mindsets – and in many cases, policies. That’s why we’re taking an interdisciplinary approach, working with students across a range of fields. Some of those you might expect, like engineering and product design, and some of those you might not, like communications and the law. We’ll also emphasize systems-thinking. For example, how do you design plastic products so they last longer, can be repaired and, at the end of their life, be recycled?
Can this kind of training help address youth unemployment? In Latin America and the Caribbean, youth unemployment is around 14 per cent, triple the rate for adults.
JB: Yes. This is the other important element of the equation. Along with countering plastic pollution, we are aiming to help young people find stable, decent jobs, which are sorely lacking in many parts of the region, and the wider world. By 2030, there will be an estimated 20 per cent shortfall in employees with green skills worldwide, according to a recent report by LinkedIn. So, students with training in circularity will have a leg up in the job market.
Why is plastic pollution an issue we need to address now?
JB: Because plastic pollution is skyrocketing. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development forecasts that by 2060, plastic waste will nearly triple to one billion tonnes a year. Much of that is sure to wind up in the environment as pollution, if current trends continue. But, at the same time, there are nearly 240 million young people between the ages of 10 and 24 in this region. If we can expose them to circularity, if we can equip them with green skills, they can become important allies in the campaign against plastic pollution.
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World Environment Day on 5 June is the biggest international day for the environment. Led by UNEP and held annually since 1973, the event has grown to be the largest global platform for environmental outreach, with millions of people from across the world engaging to protect the planet. This year, World Environment Day joins the UNEP-led #BeatPlasticPollution campaign to end plastic pollution.
About Beat Plastic Pollution
Since 2018, the UNEP-led #BeatPlasticPollution campaign has advocated for a just, collective, and global transition to a world free of plastic pollution.
