Plastics are everywhere in daily life, but so are their impacts on health, livelihoods, and the environment. For many grassroots and community-based organisations, working on plastics and chemicals is not only an environmental issue, but also a question of health, justice, and everyday survival.  

On 10 March 2026, as part of the mentoring programme for the Gender Just Climate Solutions and the Ecofeminist funds grantees, we organised our first experience-sharing session of the year, titled “Working on Plastics: Experiences, Challenges, and Solutions.” The online session brought together participants from across the network for a practical exchange on how organisations address plastics and chemicals in different contexts. 

The session was led by Dr. Simona Zimmerman, Project Manager in the WECF Chemicals & Health Team (German office). She opened the workshop with a presentation on the impacts of plastics on health and the environment. Throughout the life cycle of plastics, Simona demonstrated how their production releases large amounts of greenhouse gases and how microplastics reduce the Earth’s ability to store CO₂. The presentation emphasized that, besides microplastics, the main threat to human and environmental health comes from the many chemical additives used to give each type of plastic its specific properties. Simona also highlighted that the health impacts of plastics are gendered. Two examples: biologically, women’s thinner skin allows chemical substances to be absorbed more easily, and socially, women are more often employed in less protected positions, especially in informal waste management. As shown in WECF’s documentary “Tackling Toxics”, women working under such conditions can experience severe menstrual bleeding or nerve pain because of chemical exposure from handling plastic waste in the informal economy. 

After the presentation made by Simona, another central part of the session was the contribution of Uru uru team, 2025 Gender Just Climate Solutions Awardee, Green Living Movement, 2018 Gender Just Climate Solutions Awardee and Toxics Link, Ecofeminist Fund grantee, who shared how plastics and chemicals are showing up in their own realities and how they are responding through their work. Rather than presenting one single model or solution, the session created space for participants to reflect on the diversity of contexts in which these issues are being addressed. 

Speakers discussed the specific plastics and chemicals issues they are facing and what their work looks like in practice. They also spoke openly about the challenges they encounter and the solutions or adaptations they have developed along the way. 

One of the strongest points that came out of the discussion was the search for alternatives. There was broad agreement among participants that plastics are harmful and that reducing dependence on them is important. At the same time, the conversation quickly moved beyond that shared understanding to a more practical question: what do we do with that, and how do we move forward? Participants reflected the difficulty of finding realistic alternatives that are affordable, accessible, and adapted to local contexts. This made the discussion especially valuable, as it shifted the focus from simply identifying the problem to exploring what transition and change can look like in practice. 

The exchange also showed the value of peer learning within the mentoring network. By bringing together WECF’s technical expertise with the lived and practical experience of awardees and grantees, the session offered a useful opportunity to connect knowledge, challenges, and ideas across contexts. This first experience-sharing session confirmed the value of creating more spaces for open, practice-based exchange within the programme. It also highlighted the strong interest among participants in continuing these conversations on topics that are directly connected to their work and realities. 

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