Wherever you’re reading today’s newsletter, you’re probably surrounded by plastic products. 

Don’t believe me? Take a closer look at your clothes, household goods, cleaning products, containers, bottles, stickers, period products, coffee cups, receipt paper, chewing gum, tea bags, makeup and personal care items, food packaging, and even (deep breath) glitter. 

Experts say they have become a ubiquitous problem  — one that’s too big to “recycle our way out of”. 

These concerns were at the centre of this week’s UN talks to secure the world’s first legally binding treaty on plastics. 

High-level officials from 184 countries attended the negotiations in Switzerland. But after three years of stalled debate and a record-high attendance of fossil fuel lobbyists, have global efforts been further delayed? 

Today, we’re unpacking everything you need to know about this treaty and the current state of play when it comes to plastic pollution. 

The world produces around 490 million metric tons of plastic every year. This figure has doubled since 2008, and is projected to triple by 2060. 

Environmental harm contributes to around one in four global deaths, according to estimates by the World Health Organisation (WHO). This includes harm caused by chemicals, pollution and waste. The WHO warns that low and middle-income countries are disproportionately affected. 

University of Sydney Senior Research Fellow Dr Nicholas Chartres is a leading authority on the health impacts of plastic pollution and microplastics. 

“In Australia, we’ve always thought we live in such a pristine and amazing environment…  but you only need to take a walk on a beach or look at your own house to see how many plastic products there are,” he said.  

Dr Chartres told TDA it’s the plastics we can’t see – microplastics – that are even more concerning. 

“Plastic particles are breaking down into these tiny fragments… but they’re essentially everywhere.

“They accumulate in our bodies… and they don't leave.”

Chartres co-authored a WHO publication, which notes plastics are made of more than 16,000 chemicals, “mostly derived from oil and gas.”

“Over 4,200 are known to be hazardous, while the toxicity of the majority of the remaining is unknown.”

In 2022, the United Nations Environment Assembly – the world's highest decision-making body on the environment – agreed on the need to address the environmental and health impacts of plastic pollution and waste. 

Australia is among the nations in support of the treaty, which aims to target “the full life cycle of plastic pollution” from production to disposal. 

But progress has been slow. 

Over the last three years, leaders from more than 170 countries have attended six negotiation sessions around the world. Talks were initially scheduled to conclude in December last year, but stalled when countries failed to reach a consensus.

After hopes this latest round of meetings would deliver a binding agreement, talks appeared to have collapsed again on Thursday.

So, why can’t the world reach a consensus on plastics? 

The majority of UN members are calling for the treaty to include a global cap on plastic production and a ban on the use of chemicals in plastic production. However, these terms have become a key sticking point between negotiators. 

Dr Chartres says “a small coalition” of fossil fuel and petrochemical-producing countries is “pushing back” against the treaty’s goals, including the U.S.

“That's essentially because they want to see a focus on recycling and waste management so that they can continue to produce and make plastic, because it's such a huge revenue stream for them,” he said. 

At this week’s treaty talks in Geneva, fossil fuel and chemical industry lobbyists outnumbered scientists ten to one, and Indigenous representatives five to one, according to Chartres.

“These negotiations are flooded by the vested interests of corporations that want to produce plastics,” he said. 

These concerns were echoed by the Centre for International Environmental Law (CIEL), which warned the negotiations were at risk of being “overrun” by lobbyists.

CIEL Environmental Health Campaigner Rachel Radvany said “lobbyists aren’t just pulling strings behind the scenes,” they’re “pushing their agenda in plain sight.” 

Dr Chartres is part of a group of international experts and researchers who’ve made several recommendations for the UN Plastics Treaty. 

One of their key concerns is the possibility of a treaty that favours recycling and improved waste management over strategies to reduce plastic production and ban toxic chemicals. 

Greenpeace says this would be a “gift to the petrochemical industry,” while Chartres argues “the idea that we can actually recycle plastic is a fallacy.” 

“We’ve grown up thinking about plastics as these larger pieces of material that we can pick up, put in a recycling bin, and magic happens and we get new products from them,” he told TDA. 

According to global estimates, 8-9% of plastic is recycled annually, while about 1% of plastic is recycled more than once in its lifetime. 

We can’t “recycle our way out of this problem,” Chartres said. 

Instead of prioritising waste management, he argues that “capping and reducing plastic production” and banning plastics that contain toxic chemicals are more effective strategies. 

Dr Chartres and several other experts across medicine, science, public health and policy are also arguing that the treaty should include a global plastics duty of care, with a mandate for countries and manufacturers to consider the health risks and impacts of their actions. 

Advocates are calling for authorities to close gaps in regulation and improve transparency of plastic production and waste.  

Several key points remain up in the air after a draft treaty was rejected in the final 48 hours of talks in Geneva.

A revised proposal, tabled on Wednesday, removed caps on plastic production and focused on waste management instead. Health mandates to ban toxic chemicals in plastics manufacturing were also missing from the updated draft.

Australia is part of the treaty’s ‘High Ambition Coalition’. The group, which also includes the UK and the European Union, is pushing for binding limits across the plastics life cycle.

A representative from the coalition said its officials won’t accept “just any treaty”.

“We are going to be flexible, but at the same time ambitious in our positions, and work… to bring this to a conclusion... The world needs a plastics treaty now.”

However, the U.S. has opposed a treaty that would enforce legally binding caps, advocating for design and recycling measures instead. Petrochemical-producing nations, including Saudi Arabia and Iraq, are also against production limits.

After ten days of talks, the future of the treaty remains in doubt — again.

As officials continue to seek a consensus, EU Commissioner for Environment Jessika Roswall has called on the international community to be pragmatic.

“I assume we all came here to clinch a deal. But we are not moving forward [fast] enough,” she said.

“The world is watching; people everywhere want us to act against plastic pollution. We cannot miss this historic opportunity.”

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