Request a Demo
On June 16, the G20 Energy and Environment Ministers' Conference closed in Nagano Prefecture, Japan. The G20 were able to achieve a consensus on formulating an international framework to reduce oceanic plastic waste, which is the first international framework on oceanic plastic waste in the world.
According to Harada Yoshida, of the Ministry of the Environment of Japan, the international framework was proposed to stem the tide of oceanic plastic waste. Growth in plastic waste has been steadily getting worse with the development and increased negative contribution of emerging economies, changing geopolitical dynamics and significant changes in global trade of waste. The action plan will be backed by a specific timetable, targets and will be legally binding. The G20 members in attendance pledged to implement measures to deal with waste appropriately, to recycle oceanic plastic waste and to strengthen international cooperation.
The timing of G20’s decision is particularly interesting given China’s implementation of a ban on importation of foreign waste more than one year ago. Since then many developed countries and regions, such as the EU, the United States, Japan and Australia have been struggling to come up with ways to dispose of their waste. In the wake of China’s ban many of these countries have rerouted waste to developing nations in South-East Asia with less developed infrastructure and capacity to adequately deal with waste which is likely to be contributing to the oceanic waste issue. Following China’s lead many South-East Asia have also announced a ban on plastic waste imports, such as Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia and India.
