Every year, 400 million tons of plastic are produced worldwide, and every year, approximately 57 million tons of plastic pollution is created. And yet in November, the latest round of negotiations on the first legally binding international treaty on plastics pollution ended without an agreement.
Oil-producing countries, including Saudi Arabia, Iran, Kuwait and Russia, refused to sign up to a clause calling for the world to reduce its production of plastics. As clean energy technologies like electric vehicles gain traction worldwide, these economies are counting on continued and even increased plastic production to buffer them from the economic blow of reduced demand for oil.
