Nearly 100 Nations Reject Toothless Plastics Treaty That Avoids Production Limits In Favor Of "Recycling"

Talks on the world’s first legally binding treaty to end plastic pollution have stalled just one day before the negotiations are due to end. Some of the countries calling for an ambitious treaty to include targets to reduce plastic production, including Colombia, the EU and the UK, have rejected as “unacceptable” and “unambitious” a draft treaty text that does not include production caps, nor address chemicals used in plastic products.

Almost 100 countries, including Australia, Canada, Mexico and many African and Pacific nations, have called for the adoption of legally binding measures to limit plastic production in order to address plastic at source. Many have said toxic chemicals in plastics need to be controlled.

The main sticking point at the talks, now in their third year, has been whether to cap plastic production or to focus on issues such as better design, recycling and reuse. But oil- and plastic-producing nations, including Saudi Arabia, Russia and Iran, the “like-minded group” which has reportedly been supported by the US as well as the chemical industry, reject production limits and instead want the treaty to focus on measures such as waste management and recycling.

EDIT

The new draft contains one mention of plastic production, in the preamble reaffirming the importance of sustainable plastic production and consumption. An article on production from a previous draft has been removed. There is no mention of chemicals. A reference to the “full life cycle” of plastics in a previous draft has also been removed. Kenya described the draft as a “waste management” instrument, which had “no democratic value” for states seeking to limit plastic, while Mexico said it represented a “crisis in multilateralism”.

EDIT

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/aug/13/plastic-pollution-treaty-talks-stall-one-day-before-deadline