Plastic pollution treaty talks stuck in 'dialogue of the deaf'

An Afghan worker loads plastic bottles into a sack at a recycling yard in Kabul on August 5, 2025. [AFP]

Negotiations aimed at forging a global treaty on plastic pollution are being blocked by oil-producing countries and getting bogged down in a "dialogue of the deaf", sources in and around the talks told AFP.

Ten days of talks on finalising an international, legally-binding instrument on plastic pollution opened on Tuesday with sunny optimism from the moderators that a deal could be done to tackle the scourge of plastic rubbish and microplastics trashing the planet.