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Each year, the world produces about 400 million tonnes of plastic waste – more than the combined weight of all the people on Earth.
Just 9 percent of it is recycled, and one study predicts that global emissions from plastic production could triple by 2050.
Since 2022, the United Nations has been trying to broker a global treaty to deal with plastic waste. But talks keep collapsing, particularly on the issue of introducing a cap on plastic production.
Campaigners blame petrostates whose economies depend on oil – the raw ingredient for plastics – for blocking the treaty negotiations.
This…
