Washington, DC – Following five days of United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA) negotiations in Nairobi, Kenya, countries took an initial step toward addressing single-use plastic waste. The United States worked with a handful of countries to block ambitious, global action, instead pushing watered down resolutions opposed by most other countries, including those most impacted by plastic pollution. The U.S. delegation urged countries to focus on waste management efforts, pointing the blame at countries in Asia that lack infrastructure to deal with the crisis, while ignoring the fact that U.S. companies are profiting off of these regions and that the U.S. exports much of its own plastic waste to these countries.
In response to the U.S. blocking progress toward an ambitious commitment, Greenpeace USA Oceans Campaign Director John Hocevar said:
“It is galling to see the U.S. preventing meaningful action to address the plastic pollution crisis. People around the world are demanding progress, particularly in places like Southeast Asia where markets are flooded with plastic packaging that they have no capacity to recycle. U.S. corporations like Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Proctor & Gamble, and Mars are responsible for a large portion of this plastic waste, so it is ridiculous for the U.S. to point fingers at others. There is no question that single-use plastic is on the way out, so it is time for the U.S. to get on the right side of history.”
###
Contact: Perry Wheeler, Greenpeace Senior Communications Specialist, P: 301-675-8766
