Paxymer at UNEP POPs conferens in China

Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) is considered the next big environmental threat to our planet. Dr Swaraj Paul is invited as the guest speaker at the POP convention in China on the 1-2 of July through swedish expert bodies KemI and MSB.

Dr Swaraj Paul will be the keynote speaker on (1) how the legislator can assist and make sure that the industry starts the long process of exchanging these substances and (2) as proof that the technical issues can be solved even if the toxic substances are eliminated.The Stockholm Convention is an international treaty that regulates the use of these substances and the 170 member countries have committed themselves to minimizing these substances trough regulation and efforts to find green alternatives.

These are the issues we at Paxymer face everyday. Our conviction is that we have to act now. Paxymer is a system that is viable as an alternative in every aspect: economical, functional and industrial. UNEP and the Stockholm Convention is a step in the right direction but in order to create a quicker migration to new alternative systems the legislator must make its opinion clear and reward those actors that make the transition. Traditions, previous convictions and relationships affect buying behaviour more than rational criteria or the best product seen from a holistic perspective.

There are three steps that would increase the speed at which POPs can be exchanged.
1. Legislation with clear deadlines for phasing out the substances
2. Support viable alternatives that are currently being developed by small actors. Balance the power of the giant’s lobbyists.
3. Increase research efforts to unambiguously prove the hazards of these substances.

This is an issue that affects us all. One of the main hazards of POPs are their persistence, we have seen it with PCB and CFCs. The problems we create today will have to be dealt with by coming generations and will be amplified as the substances accumulate. There are solutions that will not effect our way of life. It is time to take a stand.

More information at Stockholm Convention

(Amit Paul/ MD Paxymer AB)