The United Nations on Wednesday agreed to start negotiating a world-first global treaty on plastic pollution in what has been hailed as a watershed moment for the planet.

Nearly 200 nations at the UN Environment Assembly in Nairobi unanimously agreed to create an intergovernmental committee to negotiate and finalise a legally binding plastics treaty by 2024.

UNEA chair Espen Barthe Eide declared the resolution passed with a strike of the gavel -- itself made from recycled plastic -- as the assembly hall erupted into cheers and applause.

"We are making history today. You should all be proud," said Eide, who is Norway's climate and environment minister.

Negotiators have been given a broad and robust mandate to target plastic trash in all its forms.

It addresses not just the bottles, straws and shopping bags floating in rivers and oceans, but invisible microplastics found in the deepest oceans and highest mountains, and within the air, soil and food chain.

- 'Historic crossroad' -

Supporters described the commitment as the most important environmental decision taken by the UN in years.

"We stand at a crossroad in history when ambitious decisions taken today can prevent plastic pollution from contributing to our planet's ecosystem collapse," said Marco Lambertini from WWF.

The broad treaty framework approved by 193 UN nations -- among them major plastic producers like the United States and China -- does not spell out specific measures but leaves particulars to negotiations.

But the scope covers pollution "from source to sea" -- a key demand of many nations -- and could for the first time introduce caps on the production of new plastic from fossil fuels.

Other regulations could require that industry redesign products to make recycling easier and stem the torrent of trash created by single-use items.

Less than 10 percent of plastic is recycled. Most of the 460 million tonnes of plastic produced in 2019 wound up in landfill and oceans.

"This is a clear acknowledgement that the entire life cycle of plastic, from fossil fuel extraction to disposal, creates pollution that is harmful to people and the planet," said Graham Forbes from Greenpeace.

- 'Landmark' decision -

The amount of plastic entering the oceans is forecast to triple by 2040, and governments have been under pressure to unite against the trash "epidemic".

The rate of plastic production has also grown faster than any other material and is expected to double within two decades without urgent action.

By some estimates, a garbage truck's worth of plastic is dumped into the sea every minute.

Large pieces of plastic are a notorious peril for sea birds, whales and other marine animals. But at the microscopic level, particles of plastic can also enter the food chain, eventually joining the human diet.

To address the urgency, talks toward concluding the treaty are being fast-tracked and the first round is slated for later this year.

Diplomats and conservationists cautioned that the strength of the treaty would be determined by the level of political will shown in these negotiations.

Setting targets, ensuring accountability, and monitoring success or otherwise could prove sticking points, said UN environment chief Inger Andersen.

Negotiators will need to establish what measures are binding or voluntary, and some countries are pushing for flexibility in setting their own goals through national action plans.

"There will be a number of thorny issues as there always is when we start a negotiation," said Andersen, head of the UN Environment Programme.

Big corporations had expressed support for a binding agreement and negotiators were urged to engage industry players in the process.

Dozens of major businesses had called for a common set of rules around plastic to create a level playing field for competition.

"This is a landmark decision by UN member states," said Richard Slater, chief research and development officer at British consumer goods group Unilever.

Trade group Plastics Europe said its products played a vital role in society and industry was doing its part to bolster recycling and invest in solutions.

"The UNEA resolution represents a major step towards the creation of a waste free future which is critical to achieving our collective climate ambitions," said Plastics Europe president Markus Steilemann.

Recycled plastic: Five things to know
Paris (AFP) Feb 26, 2022 - With less than 10 percent of the plastic used across the world recycled, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), here are five things to know about recycling techniques and how they are evolving.

Mechanical recycling

Sorting, shredding and heating are the three stages of mechanical recycling employed in 99 percent of operations worldwide, France's IFP Energies Nouvelles institute says.

After collection and sorting into polymer groups by optical equipment or flotation systems, the plastics are washed and crushed into granulated material. They are then melted down and can be re-used.

The technique does not remove additives, such as colouring, making recycled plastic packaging unsuitable for food. Bin bags are fine.

As a result, manufacturers prefer cheap new plastic over the recycled version that is of lower quality and more expensive. What's more, a large part of waste plastic from the developed world ends up being dumped abroad, NGOs say.

Today the processes are improving, particularly with PET or polyethylene terephthalate, the most common thermoplastic polymer resin. Poly-condensation allows for the recovery of degraded molecules and the removal of impurities under pressure and heat. Recycled plastic water bottles have recently made their appearance on supermarket shelves in Europe.

A factory for each and every plastic

Almost every molecule requires a particular type of factory with specialised equipment.

Out of the dozens of plastic polymers, polyethylene is the most common and is used to make shampoo bottles and plastic packaging for packs of water bottles, which are made of PET. Their tops are made of polypropylene, Marc Madec, a sustainable development specialist for France's Polyvia Federation of Plastics and Composites, told AFP.

Polyvinyl chloride or PVC is used in the construction industry for floor coverings and window frames. Polystyrene can be solid or foamed while polyamide is found in textiles and cars. Polyurethane can be rigid or flexible but is commonly found in mattresses or as insulation.

Such a range requires investment in high-quality sorting equipment to separate out the various plastics. Japan has been successful at this, the World Wildlife Fund says, thereby limiting waste, but the country still incinerates more than it recycles.

Europe still needs to do more

For the OECD, after taking into account losses during recycling, only nine percent of plastic waste was ultimately recycled globally.

Europe saw little more than a third of plastics collected recycled in 2020.

Germany, Sweden and Norway had the best performances at around 40 percent, while France had only 24 percent, the OECD report found.

The European Patent Office says Europe and the United States account for 60 percent of worldwide patents for plastic recycling, with Asia trailing far behind.

Chemical recycling for better or worse?

Chemical recycling breaks down plastic, or depolymerises it into monomers which form basic units for polymers. It can also take the process further by returning plastic into naphtha, an oil derivative and a precursor for plastic.

"It's as if by adding a solvant to a cake you return to eggs, flour and butter," Madec explained.

"With the basic ingredients, you can re-make plastic as virgin plastic from oil."

The advantage is that it completes a full recycling for all the seemingly endless P molecules.

However the investment costs are heavy and recycling has to be profitable or it will not be carried out.

The process also requires huge amounts of energy while doubts remain about the level of greenhouse gas emissions and toxic by-products, according to the Heinrich Boll Foundation, a pro-green public policy think tank and other specialists.

Organic recycling

Back to naphtha is still in the early stages, but world leaders in chemistry have numerous projects lined up for the next 10 years, with hopes raised that dependence on oil can be reduced.

But first, there are also lots of chemical recycling schemes underway trying to answer cleaner-greener demand from environmentalists, the food industry and cosmetics world.

France seems to be trying to catch up, notably on Germany which with more than 160 recycling companies can boast nearly four times as many as its western neighbour.

Tyre giant Michelin is setting up a pyrolysis recycling plant for polystyrene and British chemicals group INEOS has announced a project at Wingles in northern France.

Exxon Mobil and TotalEnergies are also opening two recycling centres in France. Canada's Loop Industries and Eastman chemicals from the US have plans to open two factories in France to treat PET by 2025.

Organic recycling looks promising and relies on the use of enzymes.

French startup Carbios has launched an industrial application of enzymes that render plastic waste compostable and on Thursday began building its first factory to organically recycle PET in eastern France, claiming a world first.

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UN to take first step towards 'historic' plastic treaty
Nairobi (AFP) March 2, 2022
The United Nations is to launch formal negotiations on Wednesday for a global treaty to address the planet's "epidemic" of plastic trash, a moment that supporters describe as historic. The UN Environment Assembly (UNEA), convening in Nairobi, is poised to adopt a resolution creating an intergovernmental committee to negotiate and finalise a legally binding agreement by 2024. "This is a day for the history books," said Norway's climate and environment minister, Espen Barth Eide, who chairs UNEA. ... read more