By Valerie Volcovici
(Reuters) – As countries gathered this week to work on a global plastics treaty, a debate was emerging between countries wanting to limit the production of more plastics and the petrochemical industry favoring recycling as a solution to plastic waste.
Ahead of the talks which begin in Paris on Monday, many countries have said that one of the aims of the treaty should be “circularity” – or keeping already produced plastic items in circulation for as long as possible.
The United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), which hosts the talks, has released a plan to reduce plastic waste by 80% by 2040. In the report, released earlier this month, it said outlines three key areas for action: reuse, recycling and repurposing plastic packaging into alternative products. materials.
Some environmental groups criticized the report for focusing on waste management, which they saw as a concession to the global plastics and petrochemicals industry.
“Real solutions to the plastics crisis will require global controls on chemicals in plastics and significant reductions in plastic production,” said Therese Karlsson, science adviser at the International Pollutants Removal Network.
As part of a new group called Global Partners for Plastics Circularity, the industry has placed mechanical and chemical recycling at the center of its position.
UNEP Executive Director Inger Andersen told Reuters the report’s criticism of recycling ignores the report’s broader recommendations for packaging review.
“We talk about redesign, and when we talk about redesign, that’s all we need to do to use less plastic,” she said. “This is where it starts.”
PUBLIC HEALTH CONCERN
During the first round of talks last November in Uruguay, the countries set an ambitious deadline of concluding a legally binding treaty within a year.
For now, delegates were still deciding on the fundamental objectives of the treaty, including whether certain plastics should be banned and ways to improve waste management.
Countries also need to address key issues, including methods of funding policies as well as how policies would be implemented and reported.
This week, dozens of countries listed public health as one of their priority concerns to limit plastic production and waste. The UNEP report also identified 13,000 chemicals associated with plastic production, of which more than 3,000 were considered hazardous.
Greenpeace, meanwhile, released a report collating findings from scientific research papers that suggest plastic recycling processes can release many of these chemicals, including benzene, into the environment.
Ahead of Monday’s talks, a coalition of 55 countries has called for a strong treaty that includes restrictions on some dangerous chemicals as well as bans on problematic plastic products that are hard to recycle and often end up in the wild. .
“We have a responsibility to protect human health in our environment from the most harmful polymers and chemicals through the treaty,” said Rwandan Environment Minister Jeanne d’Arc Mujawamariya, co-chair of the High Ambition Coalition to End Plastic Pollution.
Although the United States is not a member of the coalition, a State Department official told Reuters he shares the group’s ambition but favors an approach in which countries develop their own national action plans. , similar to the Paris climate agreement.
The United States plans this week with UNEP to announce a grant to help developing countries take immediate action on plastic pollution.
(Reporting by Valerie Volcovici; Editing by Katy Daigle and Diane Craft)