Experts meet as final global plastic treaty talks near

BANGKOK:

With months until crunch talks on the world's first binding treaty on plastic pollution, experts are meeting in Bangkok to discuss financing options and problematic plastics.

The four-day gathering is a largely technical waypoint on the road to final negotiations in late November in South Korea's Busan.

There, countries are hoping to seal a potentially groundbreaking deal to tackle the gargantuan problem of plastic pollution.

The scale of the issue is almost unprecedented -- microplastics have been found in the deepest ocean trenches, highest mountain peaks, in clouds and even breastmilk.

Plastic production has doubled in 20 years and at current rates it could triple by 2060, according to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

Yet over 90 percent of plastic is not recycled, with much of it dumped in nature or buried in landfills.

Negotiators have already met four times to discuss a deal that could include production caps, unified rules on recyclability, and even bans on certain plastics or chemical components.

But significant gaps remain, including on whether the treaty will be adopted by consensus or a majority vote.

Other flashpoints include whether plastic production will be addressed, Eirik Lindebjerg, global plastics policy lead at WWF, told AFP.

"Is it within the scope to talk about production, or does the value chain start after plastic products are made? And then if we can regulate production... is it with a cap, is it with a reduction target, what are the measures?" he said.

"That's been a very contentious issue."

Environmental groups have long argued that the treaty must include curbs on new plastic, a position backed by dozens of countries who call themselves the "high ambition coalition".