Plastic Pollution

Fifty years ago, plastic products did not have a grip on our lives and households as they do today. Ceramic, glass, and clay jars, like the Egyptian water jug qolla, were used for storage, and metals like copper and tin were used for cooking and preserving food. Palm leaf baskets,…

World Bank WASHINGTON, September 9, 2025 - The World Bank's Board of Executive Directors today approved a new program to support coastal communities in India by protecting and conserving ecosystems, reducing plastic pollution and providing more and diverse jobs for 100,000 people in the states of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.…

Events this August raise a critical question: Can the United Nations process to combat global plastic pollution ever reach agreement? Or is some other way forward necessary? The Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee on Plastic Pollution (INC) set a goal in 2022 of a legally binding treaty by the end of 2024...Read…

An artwork in Geneva, Switzerland, where talks on a global plastic treaty took place last week FABRICE COFFRINI/AFP via Getty Images On 14 August, exhausted UN delegates filed into a windowless plenary hall, after hours of intensive debate and little sleep, to watch their hopes of a global treaty to…

Why did the Global Plastics Treaty fail? Summary Treaty talks involving 183 countries ended without legal agreement Nestlé, PepsiCo and Unilever expressed disappointment over failed negotiations Food industry hoped treaty would limit virgin plastic and boost recycling Fragmented regulations increase business costs and hinder sustainable investment Talks will resume, with…

Scientists from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution’s microplastics team have issued a stark warning that plastic pollution poses an increasingly significant risk to both human health and the planet’s ecosystems. The new research has linked plastic across its whole life cycle, from production and use to degradation, with adverse health…

This story originally appeared on Grist and is part of the Climate Desk collaboration. Diplomats from around the world concluded nine days of talks in Geneva—plus a marathon overnight session that lasted into the early hours of Friday—with no agreement on a global plastics treaty. During a closing plenary that…

ACTIVISTS protest during the final day of negotiations on a global treaty on plastic pollution, at the United Nations offices in Geneva.—AFP KARACHI: The 10-day negotiations towards a legally binding agreement to tackle global plastic pollution fell apart on Friday, a couple of days after the first draft of the…

Diplomats from around the world concluded nine days of talks in Geneva — plus a marathon overnight session that lasted into the early hours of Friday — with no agreement on a global plastics treaty. During a closing plenary that started on Friday at 6:30 a.m. — more than 15…

By Olivia Le Poidevin and Emma Farge GENEVA (Reuters) -The collapse on Friday of a sixth round of U.N. talks aimed at curbing plastic output has dimmed hopes of tackling a key source of pollution and left many advocates of restrictions pessimistic about a global deal during the Trump administration.…