The week of negotiations had moments of both hope and frustration for delegates, who are racing against the clock to create a final treaty. | Photo courtesy of IISD/ENB Kiara Worth
The fourth meeting to draft a global plastic pollution treaty ended just after 3 a.m. on April 30 with general agreement on the need for global rules and mandates on product design, composition, performance and extended producer responsibility.
Delegates made opening remarks at the first day of the fourth United Nations Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee meeting in Canada. | Photo Courtesy of Earth Negotiations Bulletin
The first day of the fourth meeting to draft a global plastic pollution treaty started off with speed as delegates acknowledged the time crunch to get treaty text prepared. Continue Reading
The Association of Plastic Recyclers met following last week’s Plastics Recycling Conference. | Big Wave Productions/Resource Recycling
The first day of the annual Plastics Recycling Conference covered the state of the industry and the ways that recycling can improve with better packaging design and stakeholder collaboration. | Big Wave Productions/Resource Recycling
Plastic packaging could be designed for recycling from the start, rather than squeezed haphazardly into recycling systems after the fact, with greater collaboration and stakeholder involvement along the entire value chain, several speakers said Monday at the Plastics Recycling Conference in Grapevine, Texas. Continue Reading
The bill passed the state Senate 21-13 on Feb. 6 entirely on party lines, the House 76-56 on Feb. 15, and was chaptered into law on March 5. | Yurii-Prohonnyi/Shutterstock
Although there are no chemical recycling facilities currently operating in the Pine Tree State, any starting up in the future will be considered “chemical plastic processing” operations subject to solid waste facility permitting, and their process will not be considered “recycling,” lawmakers recently voted.
A court case challenging Canada’s ban on some single-use plastic items is moving through the court system and appears poised to head to the Supreme Court. | Pavel Kubarkov/Shutterstock
A federal judge quashed an order from the Canadian government declaring all plastics to be toxic substances, but the effect of the ruling is still unclear.
The slow progress of the U.N. committee tasked with crafting a global plastics agreement has many frustrated, but others see sunshine on the horizon. | Courtesy of INC-3
As the third meeting of the United Nations Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee wrapped up in Kenya, delegates once again expressed frustration about the slow progress toward an internationally binding resolution on plastic pollution. Continue Reading
Delegates face the difficult challenge of balancing the often conflicting interests of the negotiating countries. | Photo by IISD/ENB | Anastasia Rodopoulou
The third meeting of the United Nations Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee officially kicked off Monday, inching the world closer to an internationally binding resolution on plastic pollution. Continue Reading
Truth in Advertising argues that although Colgate-Palmolive’s 100% HDPE tubes are technically recyclable, in practice they end up in landfills. | George W. Bailey/Shutterstock
The 100% HDPE toothpaste tubes used by some brands and marketed as recyclable are under fire from a consumer watchdog group, with brands denying allegations of deceptive marketing. Continue Reading
Stakeholders and involved parties will continue to debate the precise language of the agreement. | Nexus 7/Shutterstock
The first working draft of the United Nations’ global plastics agreement lays out the broad strokes of what is intended to be a legally binding way to manage plastic pollution on land and in the oceans. Continue Reading