Global talks to draft a historic treaty to end plastic pollution have failed again.
The UN negotiations, the sixth round of talks in less than three years, were due to end on Thursday, but the countries continued to negotiate until late in the evening in the hope of breaking the deadlock.
However, the clash continued between a group of about 100 countries that sought restrictions on plastic production, and oil-producing countries that wanted to focus on recycling.
Speaking in the early hours of the morning, the Cuban delegation said the countries "missed a historic opportunity, but we must move forward."
The talks were initially called in 2022 in response to growing scientific evidence about the risks that plastic pollution poses to human health and the environment.
Although plastic has benefits for almost every sector, scientists are particularly concerned about the potentially toxic chemicals it contains, which can be released when the plastic breaks down into smaller pieces.
Microplastics have been discovered in soil, rivers, air and even in organs of the human body.
The states had an initial deadline to reach an agreement by the end of December last year, but failed to meet it.
The failure of these talks pushes them even further back in time.
Speaking on behalf of island nations, the North Pacific nation of Palau said on Friday:
“We are returning home again and again with very little progress to show our people.”
"It is unfair that we face the most severe consequences of another global environmental crisis, when we have contributed very little to it," they added.
The main dividing line between countries has always been the same: whether the treaty should address the problem at the source – by reducing plastic production – or focus on managing the pollution it creates.
Major oil-producing countries see plastics – made from fossil fuels – as a vital part of their future economies, especially now that the world is moving away from traditional fuels towards electric cars.
This group, which includes Saudi Arabia and Russia, argues that the best solution is to improve infrastructure for waste collection and recycling – a position shared even by plastic manufacturers themselves.
"Plastic is essential to modern life - it's in everything," said Ross Eisenberg, president of the American Plastics Manufacturers Association.
"The focus should be on stopping plastic pollution, not stopping plastic production," he added, warning that replacing plastic with other materials could have "unintended consequences."
But many researchers warn that this approach is fundamentally flawed. The global recycling rate is estimated to be only about 10%, with major limitations on how much it can increase.
“Even if we manage to increase it in the coming decades to 15, 20, or 30%, there would still be a significant amount that pollutes the environment and harms human health,” said Dr. Costas Velis, associate professor in Waste and Resource Engineering at Imperial College London.
“We definitely need to improve recycling… but we can’t hope that this will solve every aspect of the plastic problem,” he added.
Plastic production has increased from two million tons in 1950 to an estimated 475 million tons in 2022 – and is expected to continue to grow unless additional measures are taken.
About 100 countries – including the United Kingdom and the European Union – were pushing for restrictions on production and a more uniform global design to make recycling easier.
This could be something as simple as requiring plastic bottles to be one color – because colored bottles are half the price of transparent ones.
This approach was also supported by some of the largest plastic product packagers, including Nestlé and Unilever, part of the Business Coalition led by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation.
The coalition also said countries should better harmonize schemes for imposing a small tax on plastic products to help fund recycling - known as extended producer responsibility.
According to the group, this could double income for countries, reaching $576 billion (£425 billion) by 2040.
The talks were supposed to end on Thursday, but the countries continued negotiating into the night, hoping to break the deadlock.
The chairman of the talks, Luis Vayas of Ecuador, presented a new text that appeared to be closer to the demands of the UK group.
This text did not call for a limit on plastic production – which was one of Britain's main demands – but included references that let countries take steps to address issues such as hazardous chemicals in plastic and its design for easier recycling.
Speaking at the closing meeting, the EU delegation said: “We see the outcome of this session as a good basis for future negotiations.”
But the oil states remained dissatisfied. Saudi Arabia said it found the negotiation process "problematic," while Kuwait declared that its views "were not reflected."
Many environmental groups, reacting to the failure of the talks, criticized what they see as the prioritization of profits by oil states over the health of the planet.
Graham Forbes, head of the Greenpeace delegation to the negotiations for the Global Plastics Treaty, said:
“The failure to reach an agreement in Geneva should be a wake-up call for the world: stopping plastic pollution means directly confronting the interests of the fossil fuel industry.”
"The absolute majority of governments want a strong deal, but a handful of negative actors were allowed to destroy this ambition through the procedures," he added./ BBC
