A group of delegates will spend the week in the nation's capital comparing notes on why plastic is, in fact, not so fantastic.
Driving the news: Ottawa will play host to delegates from 174 countries this week for the fourth round of United Nations plastic treaty negotiations. The committee will look to make progress on a plastic-reduction agreement ahead of final talks in South Korea in November.
- On the eve of the summit, Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault announced a new requirement for Canadian businesses to report the type and amount of plastic they put into the Canadian market and how the plastic is managed at the end of its life.
Catch-up: The global UN committee was created back in 2022 with the goal of putting together a legally binding treaty among all member nations by the end of 2024 that would, in the simplest terms, force countries to produce less plastic waste.
- Without any intervention, plastic production is currently set to double in 20 years, and the amount of waste making its way into the ocean is projected to triple by 2040.
- Some countries are pushing back. The U.S. wants more voluntary measures, and other countries like China don’t want limitations on their production of plastics.
Why it matters: Some experts argue that manufacturers will be more willing to shift to reusable products and use less plastic if everyone’s playing by the same rules under the treaty, particularly when it comes to plastic production limits and recycled material targets.
Zoom out: Microplastics — dangerous plastic particles that can cause serious health risks to humans — have become a major focus at these negotiations, with research suggesting more of them are turning up in the atmosphere, ocean, and even people.—LA