Fresh from Busan, South Korea, assistant managing editor Steve Toloken talks about the latest round of global plastics treaty talks held by the United Nations Environment Programme.
Although an official agreement wasn't made as expected at this fifth round of talks, Toloken explains the process did move countries and industry members closer to the limit of their expectations on what a treaty could enact.
"I heard someone call it the most effective of the five sessions so far," he said Wednesday, Dec. 11 during our Plastics in Politics Livestream, in the recording below. " I think that's true because people started to show their red lines, when you hit the 11th hour."
Disagreements arose over whether the treaty would or should regulate production limits; should it include language around toxic chemicals; what are "problematic" plastics and how would they be treated; and recycling and waste measures, he said.
Listen to more of the conversation, including what's next for the global plastics treaty with Managing Editor Rhoda Miel, below.