SYDNEY: Australian Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek has been in Paris for negotiations on a proposed world plastics treaty.
A United Nations (UN) committee is meeting to work on an international pact to end plastic waste. There is, though, little consensus about what the outcome should be.
According to Voice of America, the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (ING) for plastics began meeting Monday in Paris to develop the first legally binding world treaty on plastic pollution. Discussions in Paris are expected to end Friday.
The meeting attracted 2,000 people from almost 200 countries. The challenge they face is immense.
In April, the UN environment programme said 430 million tons of plastic were produced yearly. About two-thirds are short-lived products that soon become waste.
Rwanda and Norway are leading efforts to end plastic pollution by 2040 to protect human health and biodiversity and mitigate climate change’s impacts.
There is, though, no consensus. Chemical producers believe that any deal to eliminate plastic pollution should retain the benefits of essential and life-saving plastic items. The US, Saudi Arabia, and China believe more effort should be made to boost recycling. Other players have insisted that national agreements, rather than a uniform world treaty, would be the best approach.
Australia is keen for the world accord to be struck.
Environment Minister of Australia Tanya Plibersek has been in France and told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. Wednesday that a world pact is a good way forward.
Plibersek said, “That strong world ambition gives us something to aim for and countries to cooperate with. By working cooperatively with Europe, we lift our ambition here in Australia because they’ve got higher standards on some of the recycling and types of plastics and plastic additives.”
Plibersek said Australia would double its recycling capacity by 2025, investing in 48 of the latest waste facilities.
The Australian Capital Territory (ACT), the jurisdiction surrounding Canberra, would expand its restriction on plastics from the first of July. Other Australian states and territories developed a range of laws on plastic waste.
In June 2022, New South Wales restricted lightweight plastic bags.
Western Australia and South Australia will outlaw plastic takeaway containers in 2024.
Western Australia would also restrict expanded polystyrene used to pack electrical goods in cartons in 2025.
Australian authorities warned previously that the amount of plastic waste in the oceans could outweigh the fish population by 2050.
