The world may solve plastic pollution without insisting on a cap on its production, Canada's environment minister said Friday.
Speaking on the sidelines of negotiations in Ottawa on a global treaty to reduce plastic pollution, Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault said there are "a lot of things" being proposed "that could ensure that this is an ambitious treaty, whether or not there is a production cap."
He pointed to the need to ban some single use plastics and doing better in areas of recycling, as examples.
"There's no silver bullet here to fight plastic pollution," he added, urging delegates to consider "the entire picture of where we need to tackle plastic pollution at every step of the way."
Greenpeace's Patrick Bonin reacted by accusing the minister of "undermining" efforts to negotiate a plastic production cap.
"Questioning the validity of a cap on plastic production is out of step with the High Ambition Coalition of which Canada is a part, with what people and scientists are asking for," he said in a statement.
