Any hope of containing the rapidly-escalating global plastic waste crisis seems to have melted down after international negotiations on a framework to curb pollution collapsed over the weekend.
Countries involved in discussions at the fifth U.N. Intergovernmental Negotiation Committee (INC-5) meeting in South Korea remained far apart after days of talks, with a group of over 100 nations seeking to put a cap on plastic manufacturing facing stern opposition from major petrochemical producers, like Saudi Arabia. In a bleak summation of the current situation, the meeting – tasked with creating a legally binding global treaty – concluded with promises of further talks and a document stuffed with “voluntary measures.”
Even as scrutiny on plastic waste increases, the tools and methods with which to enforce change have proven largely ineffectual.
- In September, Keurig Dr Pepper (KDP) was charged a meager $1.5 million in civil penalties for overstating the sustainability credentials of its signature K-Cup coffee pods.
- In an ambitious bid to hold PepsiCo accountable for plastic pollution in the state’s Buffalo River, New York Attorney General Letitia James only earned herself a 19-page rebuke from the state Supreme Court admonishing her for pursuing a “naïve theory.”
- On the West Coast, Los Angeles County is attempting to hold Pepsi and Coca-Cola to task for misleading consumers about the recyclability of its packaging and subsequent environmental impact, a case which, like James’ complaint, is based on the same fragile interpretation of “public nuisance.”
It’s sobering stuff for those watching in anguish as less than 10% of the 400 million tons of plastic waste created each year is recycled. More negotiations are in the works, but each delay represents essentially a doubling-down on the current negative trajectory. In the words of Panama’s delegation head Juan Carlos Monterrey Gomez: “When we reconvene, the stakes will be higher.”