The fight over the future of plastics

Key Facts

Ahead of the latest round of talks, European researchers published a database of more than 16,000 chemicals plastics can contain, many of which have been linked to cancer risks and damage to the human immune system.
The plastics industry urgently needed to combat the image of the industry as “the enemy, this faceless industry that is there to kill people,” Domenic DeCaria, the Vinyl Institute’s technical director, told an industry gathering ahead of the latest round of talks, according to a recording of the remarks, which DeCaria confirmed in a conversation with the Times Thursday.
Spearheading that effort are African nations that have blazed a trail in phasing out single-use plastics, which make up the bulk of plastic pollution.
Recycling has failed to stem the flow of plastic waste that is piling up in landfills, entering the world’s rivers and oceans, and breaking down into tiny particles that have made their way into drinking water supplies and are detectable in human blood.