Sawt Falasteen - Europe wants ministers at plastic pollution treaty talks

Observers say progress on substance has been painfully slow in the run-up to the talks in Busan, South Korea -- and at times actively stymied by countries keen to water down any final treaty.

European Union countries are part of a coalition that wants cuts in production of new "virgin" plastics written into the treaty.

France's Ecology Minister Agnes Pannier-Runacher said not having ministers at the talks "shows a lack of will to put together a highly ambitious treaty".

She told lawmakers in Paris on Wednesday that the South Korean hosts had not "invited ministers to give the talks political momentum so that a compromise can be found" when 175 countries come together in Busan on November 25.

Hungary, which holds the EU's rotating presidency, has asked all 27 member states to send ministers to the talks to reinforce "the European Union's collective efforts in the fight against plastic pollution".

Plastic production has doubled in 20 years and at current rates could triple by 2060, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

Yet over 90 percent of plastic is not recycled, with much of it dumped in nature or buried in landfills.

M.AlAhmad--SF-PST