https://www.ft.com/content/3ac9d411-50f9-47f2-a847-f20609c0c4aa
"The US will support a global treaty calling for a reduction in how much
plastic is produced each year, according to US officials, signalling a policy
shift as countries race to reach a final agreement to curb the pollution
increasingly found to be harmful to human health.
The fresh backing for more limited production of plastic from one of the
world’s largest producers will boost the prospect of the UN being able to
unveil a landmark treaty to manage waste by the end of this year.
A final round of negotiations is due to take place in South Korea in late
November, just two weeks after the US presidential election.
In UN talks earlier this year, the US was aligned with China and Saudi Arabia
in resisting the inclusion of plastic production controls in a treaty, instead
calling for a focus on recycling and re-use.
But developing countries in Asia and Africa, where large quantities of plastic
waste often ends up in dumps, landfills or incinerators, have been joined by
big consumer companies as significant users of plastic packaging in calling for
the burden for the control and clean-up to be placed on producers.
The US petrochemicals industry has criticised the UN-led efforts to cap the
production of plastic. In April ExxonMobil, one of the world’s largest
producers of plastics, argued that a limit on production would not lower
pollution and alternatives could have a higher carbon dioxide footprint.
Washington’s shift in position, first reported by
Reuters, comes as
scientists report further disturbing evidence about the harmful effects of
plastics."
Via
Fix the News:
https://fixthenews.com/light-into-lightning/
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
