Negotiators from 176 countries will gather in downtown Ottawa this week for the fourth round of talks to create a global treaty to eliminate plastic waste in less than 20 years.
Ottawa is hosting the fourth of five rounds of negotiations, with the aim of finalizing a deal by the end of the year.
The proliferation of plastics has been profound, as it is a preferred material largely for its affordability and longevity. But that also means it never goes away, and the impact on nature and growing concerns about human health are leading a push to get rid of plastic waste and eliminate the most problematic chemicals used to make it.
CanadaSA国际影视传媒檚 environment minister, Steven Guilbeault, played a crucial role in getting the plastic treaty talks underway in 2022 when he helped push a resolution at the United Nations Environment Assembly in Kenya. He remains firm that a strong treaty is needed.
SA国际影视传媒淲e want to move as rapidly as possible to eliminate plastic pollution,SA国际影视传媒� he said in an interview with The Canadian Press. SA国际影视传媒淚 mean, the collective goal weSA国际影视传媒檝e set for ourselves is to do it by 2040, but I think both from an environmental and a health perspective, the sooner the better.SA国际影视传媒�
But Guilbeault is still reluctant to take a definitive position on the elephant in the negotiating room: a cap on plastic production.
SA国际影视传媒淲e want an ambitious treaty,SA国际影视传媒� he said.
SA国际影视传媒淚 donSA国际影视传媒檛 think right now is the time to start SA国际影视传媒� getting bogged down on certain things and say, SA国际影视传媒極K, well, this is it.SA国际影视传媒� LetSA国际影视传媒檚 have the conversation and see where we land.SA国际影视传媒�
For many environmental and health organizations observing the talks, the only way to solve the plastic crisis is to cut back on the amount produced in the first place.
But thatSA国际影视传媒檚 a no-go zone for the chemical and plastic production industries, whose members argue alternatives to plastic are often more expensive, more energy intensive and heavier.
Karen Wirsig, senior program manager for plastics at advocacy organization Environmental Defence, said plastic production will double by 2050 if left unchecked. Plastic waste could triple by 2060, she added.
SA国际影视传媒淧lastic pollution is a global crisis that intensifies every day when we let plastic production and use go unchecked,SA国际影视传媒� she said.
SA国际影视传媒淭he Earth and our health cannot afford business as usual.SA国际影视传媒�
The Organization for Economic Co-operation says global plastic production grew from 234 million tonnes in 2000 to 460 million tonnes in 2019, while plastic waste grew from 156 million tonnes to 353 million tonnes.
Globally about half of that waste ends up in landfills, one-fifth is incinerated, sometimes to create electricity, and almost one-tenth is recycled. More than one-fifth is SA国际影视传媒渕ismanaged,SA国际影视传媒� meaning it ends up in places it is not supposed to be.
The mismanagement issue is far worse in developing economies, where waste management programs are limited if they exist at all. In some parts of Africa, the OECD said almost two-thirds of plastic waste is mismanaged, and in much of Asia almost half. That compares with less than one-tenth across the worldSA国际影视传媒檚 richest countries.
Adding to that problem is that rich countries continue to export their garbage overseas despite international rules in place to prevent the practice. Last fall a Canadian Press investigation in partnership with Lighthouse Reports and journalists in Myanmar, Thailand and Europe found evidence of Canadian plastic food wrappers and plumbing parts in trash heaps encircling homes and gardens in a Myanmar town.
In Canada, the OECD reported, more than 80 per cent of plastic waste is landfilled, and only six per cent recycled. Seven per cent is mismanaged.
The evolving treaty has several areas of focus, including discussions on a cap on production, reducing the types of products most commonly found in nature, and what are known as chemicals of concern.
A UN report prepared ahead of the second round of treaty talks in Paris last June said more than 13,000 chemicals are used to make plastics, and 10 groups of those chemicals are highly toxic and likely to leech out of their products. That includes flame retardants, ultraviolet stabilizers and additives used to make plastics harder, waterproof or stain resistant.
Dr. Lyndia Dernis, a Montreal anesthesiologist and member of the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment, said most plastic additives are endocrine disrupters, which cause everything from diabetes and obesity to high blood pressure, infertility, cancer and immunologic disorders.
Plastic is extremely common in medicine. When she starts an intravenous for a pregnant patient, for instance, she said that material contains phthalates, SA国际影视传媒渁 very well studied endocrine disruptor.SA国际影视传媒�
SA国际影视传媒淓arly in pregnancy the baby girlSA国际影视传媒檚 reproductive system is in place, including all the eggs for the rest of her life. This means that when I start an intravenous, ISA国际影视传媒檓 exposing three generations at once: the pregnant mom, her future baby girl, and the babies of that baby to be,SA国际影视传媒� she said.
Greenpeace and other environmental groups are calling for plastic production to be cut 75 per cent from 2019 levels by 2040. Recycling, they argue, is a myth that doesnSA国际影视传媒檛 really happen. Most of what Canadians toss in their blue boxes still ends up in the landfill.
Isabelle Des Chenes, vice-president of policy for the Chemistry Industry Association of Canada, said society canSA国际影视传媒檛 ban or cap its way out of plastic waste.
For Des Chenes, the key component to the treaty is to create a SA国际影视传媒渃ircular economySA国际影视传媒� where companies design products to be reused and recycled, rather than thrown away.
That includes investments in equipment to break plastics back down into their original compounds to be used again, as well as standardizing designs to make recycling possible, she said.
Des Chenes said if you just look at potato chip bags, which are made of layers of different plastic polymers, those layers differ depending on the brand. It is easier to recycle those bags if there is consistency.
Guilbeault has promised regulations in Canada to require both minimum amounts of recycled content in plastics and consistency in design. Both will increase a market for recycling, which is very limited in Canada. Updates on those promises could be expected during the treaty talks, he implied.
Some of CanadaSA国际影视传媒檚 domestic efforts are on pause after the Federal Court ruled last fall that a government decision to designate all plastics as SA国际影视传媒渢oxicSA国际影视传媒� was too broad. That designation is what Canada is using to ban the production and use of some single-use plastics like straws, grocery bags and takeout containers.
Canada is appealing that decision and Guilbeault said the case wonSA国际影视传媒檛 have any influence on federal positions during treaty talks.
November treaty talks in Kenya saw the dealSA国际影视传媒檚 draft text balloon from 35 pages to more than 70. It currently contains a lot of repetition, with multiple options on line items reflecting varying viewpoints.
Guilbeault said heSA国际影视传媒檇 like to get that text SA国际影视传媒�70 per cent cleanSA国际影视传媒� by the end of the Ottawa round, leaving the most difficult issues to be handled in side talks over the summer and then in the final discussions in Korea in the fall.
SA国际影视传媒擝y Mia Rabson, The Canadian Press
