Some call for global treaty on plastic marine waste
At UN meeting, some call for global treaty on plastic marine waste
More aggressive action against plastic waste, especially to keep it from getting into the oceans, was in the driver’s seat at a major United Nations environmental meeting Dec. 6, with some countries advocating a zero tolerance approach.
The U.N. Environment Assembly’s actions are not legally binding, but more than 200 countries adopted a resolution urging much more be done about plastic waste, and some said they want the action to lead to legally binding treaties.
Norway’s Minister of Climate and Environment Vidar Helgesen, for example, told the Reuters news service the plastics language is “very strong” and that countries will now “explore a legally binding instrument and other measures and that will be done at the international level over the next 18 months.”
The assembly met Dec. 4-6 in Nairobi, Kenya, and adopted 13 resolutions on topics including plastics, mercury and lead poisoning, and air pollution. It was the third gathering of the assembly, with the next session likely in two years.
The plastics industry, through the World Plastics Council, issued a statement Dec. 6 saying the assembly vote “adds to the fast-growing global consensus that to end marine plastic pollution we must invest in improved municipal solid waste management, with a focus on emerging economies with large populations near rivers and coastlines.”
Click on the link to read the full article written by Steve Toloken and posted on plasticsnews.com on 7 December 2017