French president calls for end to globalized, unsustainable plastic production

By Nur Asena Erturk

ANKARA (AA) – The French president on Monday called for an end to the globalized and unsustainable model of plastic production and consumption.

"If we do nothing, the creation of plastic waste will triple by 2060," Emmanuel Macron said in a video message addressed to the attendees at the Second Session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee on Plastic Pollution, held by UNESCO in Paris.

He compared plastic pollution to a "time bomb," and called for "an end to this globalized and unsustainable model of production of plastic in China or OECD countries, and their exports as waste to developing countries which are less equipped in terms of waste management."

Macron stressed the danger of single-use plastic products "which are the most polluting ones."

The president also called for solutions to substitute plastic with "real ecological alternatives."

The summit will end on June 2 with the participation of representatives from 175 countries, as well as intergovernmental organizations, non-governmental organizations, and the private sector.