“`html
International discussions aimed at forging a landmark treaty to combat plastic pollution have once again concluded without a consensus.
The United Nations negotiations, the sixth round in under three years, were slated to conclude on Thursday. However, participating nations continued discussions into the night in an effort to resolve a persistent deadlock.
A divide persisted between approximately 100 nations advocating for restrictions on plastic production and oil-producing states prioritizing recycling initiatives.
Speaking in the early hours, Cuban delegates expressed that countries had “missed a historic opportunity but we have to keep going”.
“I’m hugely disappointed that an agreement wasn’t reached,” stated Emma Hardy, the UK’s Marine Minister.
“Plastic pollution is a global crisis that no country can solve alone, and the UK is committed to working with others at home and abroad to protect the environment and pave the way to a circular economy,” she added.
The talks, convened in 2022, were a response to growing scientific evidence highlighting the risks posed by plastic pollution to both human health and the environment.
Despite the benefits of plastic to almost every sector, scientists are particularly concerned about potentially toxic chemicals they contain, which can leach out as plastics break down into smaller pieces.
Microplastics have been detected in soils, rivers, the air and even organs throughout the human body.
An initial deadline for securing an agreement was set for the end of December of the previous year, but nations failed to meet this target.
The failure of these latest discussions marks a further setback in the process.
Speaking on behalf of the island states, the northern Pacific nation of Palau said on Friday: “We are repeatedly returning home with insufficient progress to show our people.”
“It is unjust for us to face the brunt of yet another global environmental crisis we contribute minimally to,” it added.
The central point of contention remains whether the treaty should address plastics at their source by curtailing production or focus primarily on managing existing pollution.
The world’s major oil-producing nations view plastics, which rely on fossil fuels in their manufacture, as a critical component of their future economic strategies, particularly as the world transitions away from gasoline and diesel vehicles towards electric alternatives.
This group, which includes Saudi Arabia and Russia, argues that enhancing waste collection and recycling infrastructure is the most effective solution, a perspective shared by many plastic producers.
“Plastics are fundamental for modern life – they go in everything,” said Ross Eisenberg, president of America’s Plastic Makers, a trade association for the plastic production industry in the United States.
“Focusing on ending plastic pollution should be the priority here, not ending plastic production,” he added, warning that attempts to substitute plastics with other materials could lead to “unintended consequences”.
However, many researchers caution against this approach, noting that global recycling rates are estimated to be around 10% with inherent limitations on potential increases.
“Even if we manage to boost that over the next few decades to 15, 20, 30%, it would remain a substantial amount that is polluting the environment and damaging human health,” said Dr Costas Velis, associate professor in Waste and Resource Engineering at Imperial College London.
“Therefore, we do need to improve recycling… but we cannot really hope that this is going to solve all the aspects of plastic,” he added.
Plastic production has already risen from two million tonnes in 1950 to about 475 million in 2022 – and it is expected to keep rising without extra measures.
Approximately 100 countries, including the UK and the EU, had been advocating for production limits in the treaty, as well as greater consistency in global design standards to facilitate easier recycling.
This could be as simple as requiring plastic bottles to be one colour – when dyes are used the products only fetch half the value of clear bottles.
This approach was supported by major plastic packagers, including Nestle and Unilever, who are part of the Business Coalition headed up by the Ellen McArthur Foundation.
The Coalition also said countries should better align their schemes to add a small levy on plastic products to help pay for recycling efforts, known as extended producer responsibility.
The group estimates that could double revenues for countries to $576bn (£425bn) between now and 2040.
Talks were due to end on Thursday but countries continued to negotiate into the night in the hopes of breaking a deadlock.
The chair, Luis Vayas from Ecuador, did produce a new text which seemed to align more closely with the request of the UK group.
The text did not call for curbs to plastic production.
But it did include reference to nations taking their own steps to tackle other issues like dangerous plastic chemicals and the design of plastics to make them easier to recycle.
Speaking at the final meeting, the EU delegation said: “We see the outcome of this session as a good basis of future negotiations.”
However, the oil states remained deeply unhappy. Saudi Arabia said it found the process of negotiating “problematic” whilst Kuwait said its views were “not reflected”.
But many environmental groups, reacting to the collapse, railed against what they see as prioritisation of profit by oil states over the health of the planet.
Graham Forbes, Greenpeace head of delegation to the Global Plastics Treaty negotiations, said: “The inability to reach an agreement in Geneva must be a wakeup call for the world: ending plastic pollution means confronting fossil fuel interests head on.
“The vast majority of governments want a strong agreement, yet a handful of bad actors were allowed to use process to drive such ambition into the ground.”
The chair announced that the talks will resume at a later date.
Sign up for our Future Earth newsletter to keep up with the latest climate and environment stories with the BBC’s Justin Rowlatt. Outside the UK? Sign up to our international newsletter here.
The River Don and the Firth of Tay are among areas which are experiencing moderate scarcity.
Rising temperatures are increasing the chances of multiple wildfires at the same time, researchers say.
One Wiltshire wheat farmer says yields are so bad, his farm may not make any money this year.
How dangerous is UV radiation and how can you protect yourself when levels are high?
Blue-green algae has been detected almost 100 times across Northern Ireland since the start of 2025.
“`