Oil giants blocked a treaty to curb plastic pollution, but countries will try again
Plastic waste on a beach in Iki, Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan, on Friday, October 29th, 2021. | Photo: Getty Images
International negotiations to create a legally binding treaty to stem the tide of plastic pollution ended in a stalemate on Monday — pushing talks past their initial deadline and into next year.
More than 100 countries have shown support for limits on plastic manufacturing. They’ve faced fierce opposition from other countries that are major fossil fuel producers and who want to focus on managing waste rather than tamping down plastic production.
But there’s no way to get a handle on the plastic pollution building up in our landfills, oceans, and bodies without stopping the problem at its source, according to supporters of a production cap. Setting manufacturing limits would have the added benefit of curbing the greenhouse gas emissions...