If you think humanity’s addiction to fossil fuels is hard to shake, it’s nothing compared to the strength of our plastics habit.
In rich countries, per-capita carbon emissions and crude oil consumption have both fallen by about 15% since the turn of the millennium. That might seem slow, but at least it’s progress: When it comes to polymers, our usage has risen by 29% over the same period.
That imbues a certain fatalism into the negotiations due to wrap up in Ottawa Monday. Representatives there are attempting to hammer out the skeleton of a global treaty on plastics pollution that will join similar United Nations pacts on climate change, ozone-depleting chemicals and biodiversity.
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