Plastics Lobbyists Make Up Biggest Group at Vital UN Treaty Talks (theguardian.com) 18
Record numbers of plastic industry lobbyists are attending global talks that are the last chance to hammer out a treaty to cut plastic pollution around the world. From a report: The key issue at the conference will be whether caps on global plastic production will be included in the final UN treaty. Lobbyists and leading national producers are furiously arguing against any attempt to restrain the amount that can be produced, leaving the talks on a knife-edge.
New analysis by the Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL) shows 220 fossil fuel and chemical industry representatives -- more plastic producers than ever -- are represented at the UN talks in Busan, South Korea. Taken as a group, they would be the biggest delegation at the talks, with more plastic industry lobbyists than representatives from the EU and each of its member states, (191) or the host country, South Korea (140), according to the Centre for International Environmental Law. Their numbers overwhelm the 89 delegates from the Pacific small island developing states (PSIDs), countries that are among those suffering the most from plastic pollution.
Sixteen lobbyists from the plastics industry are at the talks as part of country delegations. China, the Dominican Republic, Egypt, Finland, Iran, Kazakhstan and Malaysia all have industry vested interests within their delegations, the analysis shows. The plastic producer representatives outnumber delegates from the Scientists' Coalition for an Effective Plastics Treaty by three to one. Approximately 460m tonnes of plastics are produced annually, and production is set to triple by 2060 under business-as-usual growth rates.
New analysis by the Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL) shows 220 fossil fuel and chemical industry representatives -- more plastic producers than ever -- are represented at the UN talks in Busan, South Korea. Taken as a group, they would be the biggest delegation at the talks, with more plastic industry lobbyists than representatives from the EU and each of its member states, (191) or the host country, South Korea (140), according to the Centre for International Environmental Law. Their numbers overwhelm the 89 delegates from the Pacific small island developing states (PSIDs), countries that are among those suffering the most from plastic pollution.
Sixteen lobbyists from the plastics industry are at the talks as part of country delegations. China, the Dominican Republic, Egypt, Finland, Iran, Kazakhstan and Malaysia all have industry vested interests within their delegations, the analysis shows. The plastic producer representatives outnumber delegates from the Scientists' Coalition for an Effective Plastics Treaty by three to one. Approximately 460m tonnes of plastics are produced annually, and production is set to triple by 2060 under business-as-usual growth rates.
Bring back glass and paper packaging (Score:4, Insightful)
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We can (and DO) plant trees and make paper with much less impact than even a decade ago. Paper is more readily recyclable. But ho do we transition back?
- Maybe fiber trays for food packaging, especially replacing plastic trays for meat?
- Paper bags can be reused, if made for that purpose. Even a second trip to the store has an impact.
- Fiber packing for products? Well, big TVs may be a challenge. Many electronics manufacturers went this way, let more follow the lead.
Only the beginning.
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In full agreement with OP with glass for things like food packaging. But yes, absolutely, paper and cardboard are very recycleable. But, how to get people to recycle, correctly?
Where I work there are several other companies in small light industrial park. We share several dumpsters, with one being for recycling. Yep, you guessed it, huge amounts of perfectly clean flattened cardboard boxes in the landfill dumpsters. And, garbage and food waste in the recycling dumpster. I'm in the US and some of the workers
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Yes, same here. If it's clean, I recycle it. Sometimes the pizza box lids are still clean, so I tear them off and recycle.
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Big TVs being a challenge - I unpacked a couple "big" ones recently, I'm still a bit shocked at being able to get 75" at under $1k. They were packed in like 99% cardboard. Cardboard box, cardboard dividers, etc... You need a custom edge fit? They can make cardboard that is a bit like the fiber egg cartons for that, just heavier duty.
When you don't need to make packages very hard to open to prevent theft, using paper/wood fiber becomes a lot easier.
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I agree of course. A lot of the cardboard boxes (and packing paper and egg cartons) that enter my household get "recycled" as soil cover for my veg beds, or (shredded) on my compost pile or worm farm.
In my country I still see quite some (but the minority) of foodstuffs sold in glass jars or bottles, and not really at a (big) cost drawback either: take peanut butter as an example: it's obtainable in glass jars, plastic jars, and even plastic tubs, and let's just say none of the producers seem to be changing
Re: Bring back glass and paper packaging (Score:2)
Poison United. (Score:2)
that's it
I don't see a problem (Score:4, Funny)
Isn't it nice when the evil people voluntarily gather in one spot so you can get them all at once?
We will poison ourselves for profit (Score:2)
and nothing will change.
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In other news (Score:5, Insightful)
Most attendees at the henhouse safety seminar were foxes
It's impossible to solve problems by asking those who caused and profit from them to find solutions
It's almost as though ... (Score:2)
And 440 defcon hackers (Score:2)
..cough.. uh.. “diplomats”. Yeah. And extra waiters and waitresses, journalists, bloggers, etc. Jokes aside you have to be impressed by how much money the organizer must be grabbing from every single one of those oil delegates. It’s kind of amazingly brass ballsy. Presumably they could control the guest list if they wanted to, but no this is way past rolling the eyes and sighing apathetically territory and deep into the outer reaches where the void stares back at you, three sheets to the w
Inevitable (Score:2)
Attempts to regulate any industry will be lobbied by that industry harder than anyone else. It's more important to them than to anyone else, after all.