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Mahesh

24/04/24 11:28 AM IST

Global plastic treaty

In News
  • Global leaders will gather in Canada’s capital this week to discuss progress in drafting a first-ever global treaty to rein in soaring plastic pollution by the end of the year.
Problem with Plastic
  • While plastic waste has become a global menace polluting landscapes and waterways, producing plastics involves releasing greenhouse gas emissions.
  • The plastic industry now accounts for 5% of global carbon emissions, which could grow to 20% by 2050 if current trends continue, said a report last week from the U.S. federal Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.
  • Plastic production is on track to triple by 2060 – unless the treaty sets production limits, as some have proposed. Most virgin plastic is derived from petroleum.
About Treaty
  • Many plastic and petrochemical-producing countries including Saudi Arabia, Iran and China – known collectively as the group of Like-Minded Countries – have opposed mentioning production limits.
  • They blocked other countries from formally working on proposed treaty language calling for production caps, chemical disclosures or reduction schedules after last year’s Nairobi session.
  • Meanwhile, the 60-nation “High-Ambition Coalition”, which includes EU countries, island nations and Japan, wants to end plastic pollution by 2040.
  • Backed by some environment groups, this coalition has called for common, legally binding provisions to “restrain and reduce the production and consumption of primary plastic polymers to sustainable levels.”
  • They also are proposing measures such as phasing out “problematic” single-use plastics and banning certain chemical additives that could carry health risks.
  • The U.S. says it also wants to end plastic pollution by 2040.
  • But unlike the High-Ambition Coalition, it wants countries to set their own plans for doing so, and to detail those plans in pledges sent regularly to the United Nations.
  • More than 200 consumer-facing companies including Unilever, PepsiCo and Walmart have joined the so-called Business Coalition for a Plastics Treaty.
  • Like the petrochemical industry, these companies that rely on plastic packaging for their products have been a major presence in the plastics negotiations.
  • But they support a treaty that includes production caps, use “restrictions and phase-outs, reuse policies, product design requirements, extended producer responsibility, and waste management
Expectations
  • The trade group Global Partners for Plastics Circularity represents major petrochemical producers including members of the American Chemistry Council and Plastics Europe.
  • The group argues that production caps would lead to higher prices for consumers, and that the treaty should address plastics only after they are made.
  • These companies want to focus on encouraging the reuse or recycling of plastics, including deploying technology that can turn plastic into fuel, though a previous Reuters investigation found enormous obstacles in this method.
    In terms of transparency about chemicals used in production, the group says companies should be allowed to disclose those chemicals voluntarily.
Source- Indian Express

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