Oil states thwart agreement on plastics

Responsibility for the treaty’s failure

• Many argue the outcome was predictable once oil-producing states had de facto veto power; they unsurprisingly blocked binding production cuts, phaseouts and disclosure.
• Others say the EU and rich countries weren’t serious: if they really wanted a deal, they could form their own treaty bloc and back it with tariffs and trade restrictions.
• Some frame it as systemic failure by the UN: “repulsive” maximalist drafts, consensus rules, and scheduling observers last are seen as bad process and poor negotiation.

Geopolitics and hypocrisy

• Discussion contrasts China criticizing Gulf producers while being the largest plastics products exporter; note that it mostly buys feedstock from petro-states (e.g. SABIC).
• Several comments accuse the West/EU of virtue signaling while still importing Russian gas, expanding petrochemicals, and offloading plastics production and waste abroad.
• Some see the whole exercise as scapegoating oil states instead of fixing domestic demand and waste.

Plastics: benefits vs harms

• One camp stresses plastics’ huge benefits: light, cheap, sterile, enabling modern medicine and cutting transport emissions versus heavier materials.
• Others emphasize systemic harms: microplastics, toxic additives, greenhouse gas emissions, siting of cracker plants in poor/communities of color, and plastics as a growth pillar for fossil fuels.

Waste management vs production cuts

• A major thread claims plastics aren’t a problem if properly binned, landfilled, recycled, or burned; the real issue is littering and failed waste systems in a handful of river basins and shipping.
• Counterarguments: global recycling is low, true recycling vs downcycling is muddled, incineration still burns fossil carbon and harms nearby communities, and even perfect disposal doesn’t address upstream impacts.

Global waste, blame, and responsibility

• Debate over rich countries exporting plastic waste to poorer nations:
  • One side: exports are meant for processing/landfill; river dumping is the importer’s failure.
  • The other: exporters “turn a blind eye,” knowing much will be mismanaged, so responsibility remains shared.

Treaties and bad faith

• Some say consensus-based treaties are mostly virtue signaling and easily ignored by powerful states.
• Others defend treaties with examples (ozone, tobacco, high seas) and argue “imperfect” isn’t “useless.”
• Disagreement over whether oil states are negotiating in “bad faith” or simply pursuing clear self-interest.

Consumers and alternatives

• Multiple comments note how hard it is to avoid plastic in everyday products (e.g., dental floss, toothpaste, coffee makers).
• Niche attempts (metal containers, tooth tablets, wooden or animal-hair brushes) exist but face cost, durability, and usability tradeoffs.