A treaty to end plastic pollution is still out of reach — that’s not necessarily a bad thing
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Summary
Negotiators from 184 nations met in Geneva this month to try to agree on a global treaty to curb plastic pollution, but walked away without an agreement.
Environmental advocates say no deal is better than a bad deal, as the main issue causing the stalemate was whether the treaty should look to phase out the use of hazardous chemicals in manufacturing and set limits to plastic production, or whether it should merely focus on managing and recycling plastic waste.
Russia and the US wanted to focus on the latter, which led to the talks ending in deadlock.
Plastic production has rocketed since the 1950s, reaching 475 metric megatons annually by 2022, and the industry is facing criticism for peddling recycling as the answer to plastic pollution when in fact it can fuel more production.
A group of more than 70 nations, led by Norway and Rwanda, want to address the whole lifecycle of plastic, including curbing production, but no details have been announced for the next round of negotiations.