A summit many hoped would yield a landmark treaty to tackle a global plastic pollution crisis ended in disappointment after oil- and gas-producing countries pushed back on limiting production

Negotiators working on a treaty to address the global crisis of plastic pollution for a week in South Korea won’t reach an agreement and plan to resume the talks next year

During the late-night meeting, countries supportive of legal obligations to cut plastic pollution refused to accept a treaty limited to voluntary measures. The treaty must take action at each stage of a plastic item’s life cycle, they asserted. That includes reducing how much plastic is made.

Every year, over 400 million tons of new plastic are produced globally, and much of this ends up as waste, polluting oceans, rivers, and landfills. Without urgent action, plastic production is projected to increase by around 70% by 2040. Plastic pollution is choking waterways, harming marine ecosystems, and infiltrating the food chain.

A week of tense negotiations to draft a legally binding treaty combating global plastic pollution ended in failure on Sunday night in Busan, South Korea, marking only the latest setback for global environmental diplomacy after disappointing outcomes at Cop29 and the Cop16 biodiversity summit.

Negotiations on a treaty to end plastic pollution have concluded in Busan, South Korea without reaching an agreement. This was supposed to be the fifth and final round to produce the first legally binding treaty on plastics pollution,

Delegates from more than 170 countries attempting to negotiate a treaty to curb global plastic pollution ended a weeklong meeting in Busan early Monday without an agreement, pushing talks to another session next year.

The world’s nations will wrap up negotiating a treaty this weekend to address the global crisis of plastic pollution

Global talks to forge a landmark treaty aimed at reducing plastic pollution broke down after negotiators from more than 170 countries remained deadlocked over how to curb the world’s growing mountain of plastic waste.

Countries have deadlocked on a United Nations treaty on plastic pollution, according to The Associated Press. The treaty, with an aim of tackling worldwide plastic pollution, faced a hurdle due to negotiators not being able to get past the question of whether it should bring down the planet’s overall plastic while also having mandatory

Very little of the world's plastic waste—about half of which comes from single-use plastics such as packaging, straws and disposable utensils—is recycled. Just 9% of the 353 million tons of plastic discarded in 2019 was recycled.