U.N. Treaty on Plastic Waste: World Must Not Give up on Agreement on Reduction Measures

Editorial

14:46 JST, December 5, 2024

Plastic waste, which does not decompose in nature, is spreading across national borders and causing serious environmental damage. The international community should overcome its differing positions and agree on concrete measures to reduce plastic waste.

An intergovernmental negotiating committee met in South Korea to formulate an international treaty to prevent pollution by plastic waste. However, the participating countries had conflicting opinions and an agreement was not reached. Another meeting will be held next year or later, and the negotiations will continue.

The United Nations began discussions in 2022 to formulate the treaty, and planned to finalize its contents at this fifth meeting. It is regrettable that an agreement was not reached within that time frame. There is concern that measures will be further delayed.

Environmentally conscious European countries and island nations where large amounts of garbage have washed ashore have proposed regulating the production of plastic goods itself.

In contrast, Russia, Saudi Arabia and other countries that produce oil, the raw material for plastic, strongly oppose the inclusion of a production restriction clause in the treaty, claiming that it would cause them economic damage.

The gap between the two sides’ arguments still could not be bridged at this meeting as well, and it is inevitable that discussions will continue to run into difficulties in the future.

Plastic, which is inexpensive and durable, is increasingly being used in many fields, including packaging and automobile parts. Annually, about 22 million tons of plastic waste is disposed of without proper treatment, such as recycling, and some of it flows into rivers and oceans, spreading around the world.

Plastic that does not decompose in the ocean is broken into small pieces by ultraviolet rays and waves, and it drifts in the ocean as “microplastics” that are taken in by fish and other organisms. It is feared that this could have a negative impact on the ecosystem and the human body.

Plastic products emit carbon dioxide when they are made and again when they are incinerated. If left unchecked, this also runs counter to measures against global warming. Even so, except in such nations as island countries where a large amount of plastic waste washes ashore, it is difficult to feel the damage, and it is hard to say that a sense of urgency is shared.

Furthermore, in the United States, which accounts for the world’s largest amount of single-use plastic waste per capita, the administration of President-elect Donald Trump will be inaugurated in January next year. In the same manner, as the United States withdrew from the Paris Agreement, an international framework to combat global warming, during his first term, Washington may take a negative stance on plastic waste.

In future international negotiations, Japan, in addition to Europe, should also play a leading role in discussions.

A team led by the RIKEN research institute has developed a new type of plastic that decomposes naturally in seawater. It will be important to explore ways to contribute to a fundamental solution to the plastic waste problem through technological innovation.

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, Dec. 5, 2024)