BUSAN – Nations of the world conclude the negotiation a treaty this weekend to resolve the problem global plastic pollution crisis.

Their meeting will conclude Sunday or early Monday in Busan, South Korea, where many environmental organizations have also gathered to push for a treaty addressing the volume of production and toxic chemicals used in plastic products.

Greenpeace said it stepped up pressure Saturday by sending four international activists to Daesan, South Korea, who boarded an oil tanker heading to port to load chemicals used to make plastics.

Graham Forbes, who heads the Greenpeace delegation in Busan, said the action was intended to remind world leaders that they have a clear choice: conclude a treaty that protects people and the planet, or side with industry and sacrifice the health of every living person and their future. generations.

Here’s what you need to know about plastics:

Every year, the world produces more than 400 million tonnes of new plastic

The use of plastic has quadrupled over the past 30 years. Plastic is omnipresent. And every day, the equivalent of 2,000 garbage trucks full of plastic are dumped into the world’s oceans, rivers and lakes, the UN said. Most countries have agreed to reach the first legally binding global agreement on plastic pollution, including in the oceans, by the end of 2024.

Plastic production could increase by around 70% by 2040 without policy changes

Global production and use of plastics is expected to reach 736 million tonnes by 2040according to the Intergovernmental Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

Panama is leading an effort to address exponential growth in plastic production under the treaty, supported by more than 100 countries. There is simply too much plastic, said Juan Carlos Monterrey, head of the Panamanian delegation.

“If we don’t include production in this treaty, not only will it be horribly sad, but the treaty might as well be called a recycling and greenwashing treaty, not a plastics treaty,” he said. he declared in an interview. “Because the problem will not be solved.”

China, the United States and Germany are the main players in the plastic sector

China was by far the largest exporter of plastic products in 2023, followed by Germany and the United States, according to the Plastics Industry Association.

Together, the three countries account for 33% of total global plastics trade, the association said.

The United States supports adding an article to the treaty dealing with the supply or production of plastic, a senior member of the U.S. delegation told The Associated Press on Saturday.

Most plastic ends up as waste

Less than 10% of plastics are recycled. Most of the world’s plastic is sent to landfills, pollutes the environment or is burned.

Sarah Dunlop, head of plastics and human health at the Minderoo Foundation, said chemicals are leaching from plastics and “making us sick”.

The International Indigenous Peoples Forum on Plastics organized an event on Saturday on the impact of plastics on the sidelines of the negotiations. They want the treaty to fully recognize their rights, as well as the universal human right to a healthy, clean, safe and sustainable environment. Juan Mancias, from the Carrizo/Comecrudo Nation in Texas, spoke of his sense of spiritual connection to the land.

“Five hundred years ago we had clean water, clean air and there was no plastic,” he said. “What happened?”

Many plastics are used for packaging

Around 40% of all plastics are used in packaging, according to the UN. This includes single-use plastic food and drink containers – water bottles, takeout containers, coffee lids, straws and shopping bags – which often end up polluting the environment.

The executive director of the United Nations Environment Program, Inger Andersen, told negotiators in Busan that the treaty must address this problem.

“Are there specific plastic items we can do without, the ones that so often escape into the environment? Are there any alternatives to these articles? This is an issue we need to agree on,” she said.

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