‘Epic failure’: Plastics treaty ends in deadlock as petrostates derail talks
15 aug. 2025
12:22
Negotiations on a global treaty to end the plastic pollution crisis in Geneva have ended in deadlock, with oil-exporting countries blocking proposals to cap virgin plastic production.
"It’s an epic failure," says Christian Schiller, founder and CEO of Cirplus, a Hamburg-based marketplace for recycled plastics.
"It’s an epic failure," says Christian Schiller, founder and CEO of Cirplus, a Hamburg-based marketplace for recycled plastics.
Talks to put a cap on the amount of plastic the world produces have ended in deadlock – for the sixth time.
Luis Vayas Valdivieso, chair of the plastics treaty negotiating committee, drafted two texts in Geneva this week based on the views of the participants. Neither text could bridge the starkly divided positions of the 184 countries present.