Global plastic discussions collapse while countries remain deeply divided

Global talks to develop a historic treaty to put an end to plastic pollution have once again failed.

The United Nations negotiations, the sixth round of talks in just under three years, had to end on Thursday, but the countries continued to negotiate at night in the hope of breaking a dead end.

There remained a distribution between a group of approximately 100 countries calling for borders on plastic production, and oil states growing to focus on recycling.

Speaking in the early hours, the Cuban delegates said that the countries had “missed a historic opportunity but we have to continue”.

The talks were summoned in 2022 in response to increasing scientific evidence of the risks of plastic pollution to human health and the environment.

Despite the advantages of plastic to almost all the sector, scientists are particularly concerned about the potentially toxic chemicals they contain, which can be a sailful while plastics decompose into small pieces.

Microplastics have been detected in soils, rivers, air and even organs throughout the human body.

The countries had an original deadline to obtain an agreement on the line at the end of December of last year, but failed to respect it.

The collapse of the latest discussions means that they are late.

Speaking on behalf of the island states, the northern nation of the Palau Pacific said on Friday: “We return several times to us with insufficient progress to show our people.”

“It is unfair for us to face the weight of another global environmental crisis to which we contribute to the minimum,” he added.

The basic separation line between countries has remained the same: if the treaty should tackle plastics at source – by reducing production – or focusing on the management of pollution that comes from it.

The most important oil producing nations consider plastics, which are made using fossil fuels, as a vital part of their future economies, especially since the world begins to move away from petrol and diesel to electric cars.

The group, which includes Saudi Arabia and Russia, argue that better waste collection and recycling infrastructure is the best way to solve the problem, a vision shared by many producers themselves.

“Plastics are fundamental to modern life – they go in everything,” said Ross Eisenberg, president of American plastic manufacturers, a commercial association for the plastic production industry in the United States.

“Focusing on the end of plastic pollution should be the priority here, not ending plastic production,” he added, a warning that tries to replace plastics with other materials could cause “unexpected consequences”.

But many researchers warn that this approach is fundamentally imperfect. Global recycling rates are only estimated about 10%, with limits over the distance that can increase.

“Even if we manage to increase this in the coming decades to 15, 20, 30%, this would remain a substantial amount that pollutes the environment and damaging human health,” said Dr. Costas Velis, associate professor in waste and resources engineering at Imperial College London.

“Therefore, we have to improve recycling … But we cannot really hope that it will solve all aspects of plastic,” he added.

Plastic production has already gone from two million tonnes in 1950 to around 475 million in 2022 – and it should continue to increase without additional measures.

A hundred countries, including the United Kingdom and the EU block, had prompted the production of sidewalks in the treaty and a more coherent design worldwide to facilitate recycling.

This could be as simple as requiring plastic bottles like a color – when the dyes are used, the products only reach half of the value of light bottles.

This approach was supported by the main plastic packages, including Nestlé and Unilever, which are part of the commercial coalition led by the Ellen McArthur Foundation.

The coalition also said that countries should better align their programs to add a small sample on plastic products to help pay recycling efforts, called prolonged managers of producers.

The group estimates, which could double the income from countries at $ 576 billion (425 billion pounds sterling) by 2040.

The talks were to end on Thursday, but the countries continued to negotiate the night in the hope of breaking a dead end.

The president, Luis Vayas d’Écateur, produced a new text which seemed to line up more closely at the request of the British group.

The text did not ask for a ceiling on plastic production, which the United Kingdom wanted.

But it has included a reference to nations that take their own steps to tackle other problems such as dangerous plastic chemicals and plastics design to make them easier to recycle.

Speaking at the final meeting, the EU delegation said: “We consider the result of this session as a good basis for future negotiations.”

However, oil states remained deeply unhappy. Saudi Arabia said it found the “problematic” negotiation process while Kuwait said that its opinions were “not reflected”.

But many environmental groups, reacting to collapse, have headed for what they consider to be a hierarchy of profits by oil states on the health of the planet.

Graham Forbes, head of the Greenpeace delegation to the negotiations of the world plastic treaty, said: “The inability to reach an agreement in Geneva must be an alarm clock for the world: the end of plastic pollution means confronting the interests of fossil fuels.

“The vast majority of governments want a strong agreement, but a handful of bad players have been authorized to use the process to lead such a ambition in the soil.”

The president announced that the talks will resume on a later date.