The World Is Awash in Plastic. Nations Plan a Treaty to Fix That.

The representatives of 175 nations agreed on Wednesday to begin writing a treaty that would restrict the growth of plastic pollution.

The agreement commits nations to work on a broad and legally binding treaty that would aim to improve recycling and clean up the world's plastic waste. Measures like a ban on single-use plastic could be on the table.

The Paris Agreement on climate change was the most important environmental accord since the global plastics treaty, according to supporters. The first of many rounds of talks to hammer out the details of a treaty on plastics is set to take place this year.

Espen Barth Eide, Norway's climate and the environment minister and president of the United Nations Environment Assembly, said that they are making history. He said in an earlier interview that it was important that the world could still agree on something based on science.

The amount of plastic produced in the world is hard to comprehend.

The total amount produced is more than the weight of all land and marine animals combined. According to the United Nations Environment Program, only 9 percent has ever been recycled. After which it ends up in landfills, dumps, the natural environment, or is incinerated, the bulk is designed to be used just once.

Scientists say that plastic causes harm throughout their life cycle, releasing toxic as well as planet-warming greenhouse gases during production, landfill and incineration. According to a recent study, plastic caused 4.5 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions in 2015, more than all of the world's airplanes combined.

In recent years, developing nations have been at the forefront of efforts to tackle plastic pollution. More than a decade ago, Rwanda adopted strict bans on the import, production, use or sale of plastic bags and packaging.

The minister of the environment in Rwanda said that plastic pollution is a threat that affects all of us.

Informal waste pickers who work among fires and toxic fumes are often the ones who have to collect, sort and recycle plastic. The importance of waste pickers in the plastics economy was formally recognized in a landmark agreement.

"We waste pickers have to be involved in this process, we began working at dump sites at the age of 12." He is a leader in the Latin American and Caribbean Network of Waste Pickers, a group that advocates for better pay, working conditions and recognition.

He said it was a poverty trap.

Wednesday's agreement states that any global treaty must be legally binding and that it must address the full life cycle of plastic. Under the Paris climate accord, countries can set binding targets but are able to meet them using a range of different policies.

The treaty needs to address packaging design to cut down on plastic use, improve recycling, and make technical and financial assistance available to developing nations. Microplastics are the tiny plastic debris created by the breakdown of plastics over time. Microplastics have been found in drinking water and in the ocean.

The United States, Japan and India objected to some of the points in the negotiations, according to three people close to the talks who were not authorized to speak publicly.

A competing resolution was submitted by Japan. According to a list of demands privately submitted by India's delegation and reviewed by The New York Times, India threatened to derail negotiations on the final day.

The United States objected to the removal of a reference to concern over chemicals in plastic. The agreement mentions the importance of considering plastic pollution's risk to human health and the environment.

The U.S. delegation did not make a statement. Monica P. Medina, an assistant secretary of state who heads the American delegation, told delegates that the agreement was the beginning of the end of the problem of plastic.

The Japanese and Indian delegations did not respond to questions.

Existing, limited, global agreements that address trade in plastic waste would be added to by a global plastics pollution treaty.

In 2020, more than 180 nations agreed to place limits on the export of plastic waste to poorer countries from richer ones under a framework known as the Basel Convention. The United States has yet to sign on to the new rules, and the Basel Action Network says violations are rampant.

Tadesse Amera, an environmental researcher based in Ethiopia and co-chairman of the International Pollutants Elimination Network, said a focus on the health and climate effects of plastics was critical.

The private sector's contribution to the technical and financial assistance to developing nations is likely to be a big point of debate in the treaty negotiations. The cost of recycling is usually paid by cash- strapped municipal governments in the United States and elsewhere. Environmental groups want producers to shoulder more of the cost.

Mr. Amera said that Africa is not a major producer of chemicals or plastic. He said that companies are flooding the continent with plastic with no thought about after-use.