UN Committee Meets on Treaty to Cut Global Plastic Pollution 80% by 2040

Humans produce about 500 million tons of plastic waste every year. The United Nations is hoping to reduce that number.

Leaders from almost 200 nations descended upon Paris on Monday for a U.N. committee meeting set to work on bringing about an end to global plastic pollution. The committee began work on what is intended to be a landmark treaty on the issue. 

By focusing on recycling, reusing and finding different materials, the U.N. says its plan could reduce plastic waste by 80% by 2040. Inger Anderson, the executive director of the U.N. Environment Program, said the commitments currently in place "will only reduce plastic pollution by 8% by 2040, so the tap is still wide open."

Rwanda and Norway are leading coalitions to forge a treaty that limits the production of new plastics. But that doesn’t come without opposition from countries that produce plastic and export gas. The United States, Saudi Arabia and China would prefer the treaty to scale up recycling, not take down production.

"The truth is, we cannot recycle our way out of this mess," Andersen said. 

The proposed treaty also focuses on limiting the types of plastic made with dangerous chemicals.

Greenpeace activist Marian Ledesma says "99% of our plastics come from fossil fuels. But it also means that the whole life cycle of plastic starts producing greenhouse gas emissions that continue to drive climate change."

While plastics are convenient, their negative effects on global warming have been proven.

The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development says that in 2019, 3.4% of worldwide emissions came from plastic.

The meeting in Paris Monday was the second of five planned to take place to complete the negotiations by the end of 2024. The first meeting was held six months ago in Uruguay.

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