Why recycling isn’t enough to address the plastic problem
1 min read
Summary
Talks held by the United Nations (UN) to produce a binding treaty on plastic waste have failed to reach an agreement, with negotiators walking away without a deal being reached.
Plastic is considered a key contributor to environmental pollution and climate change, with its production having grown at an average rate of 9% each year since 1950 and reaching 460 million metric tons in 2019.
It is estimated that 52 million metric tons of plastic are dumped into the environment or burned annually.
In March 2022, the UN Environment Assembly decided to attempt to create a plastics pollution treaty, but while there was general agreement that large amounts of waste plastic are bad, there was disagreement as to how the problem should be addressed and by whom.
Petroleum-producing nations including Kuwait and Saudi Arabia were opposed to any restrictions on plastic production being included in the treaty, while the US also caused delays by attempting to remove mentions of the “full life cycle of plastics” from the text.
Plastic production is responsible for approximately 5% of all global carbon dioxide emissions, a figure that is expected to grow to 10% by 2030.