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Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) is out front as petrochemical companies push back against plans to cap the production of plastics, as more than 4,000 delegates and observers prepare to meet in Ottawa on Tuesday for United Nations talks on a potential plastics treaty that could end plastic pollution within the next two decades.
“The issue is pollution, The issue is not plastics,” Exxon’s (XOM) head of product solutions Karen McKee told the Financial Times, adding that alternatives to plastic packaging could result in an even higher emissions footprint.
The oil and gas sector is “looking at plastic as being the next opportunity for the industry… That’s really problematic,” countered John Duncan, co-head of the Business Coalition for a Global Plastics Treaty.
Disagreements over how 400M tons of annual plastic waste should be managed have stalled negotiations.
Environmental groups want plastic production to be reduced by 75% from 2019 levels by 2040, and say recycling is not sufficient to reduce plastic waste, since only a small percentage of materials are actually recycled.
Countries such as Saudi Arabia and China, which have large petrochemical industries, and U.S.-led trade groups such as the International Council of Chemical Associations, argue that production caps would lead to higher prices for consumers and that it would be highly energy intensive to create alternatives to plastic.
If a treaty is finalized, it could be one of the most significant global agreements on the environment and emissions since the 2015 Paris Agreement.
