‘Crucial week’: make-or-break plastic pollution treaty talks begin

The divisions have stymied four previous rounds of talks, producing an unwieldy document of over 70 pages.Luis Vayas Valdivieso, the diplomat chairing the talks, has produced an alternative document intended to synthesise the views of delegations and move negotiations forward.It is a more manageable 17 pages, and highlights areas of agreement, including the need to promote reusability.However, it leaves the thorniest issues largely unaddressed, angering some more ambitious nations and environmental groups.Valdivieso nonetheless insisted on Sunday that “a shared understanding has been…