UN talks on a treaty to end global plastic pollution open in Paris

By THOMAS ADAMSON and JENNIFER McDERMOTT
Associated Press

PARIS (AP) — A United Nations committee is meeting in Paris to work on what is intended to be a landmark treaty to bring an end to global plastic pollution, but there is little agreement on what the outcome should be. The self-named “high ambition coalition” of countries, led by Norway and Rwanda, want limits on plastic production and restrictions on some of the chemicals used in plastics. But plastic-producing countries and gas exporters, including the United States, Saudi Arabia and China, want the treaty to have a more limited scope to address plastic waste and scale up recycling. Most plastic is made from fossil fuels.