A tax on new plastic would slash waste—if built into the global treaty on plastics

Earlier this week, the mining magnate Andrew Forrest made headlines calling for a global "polymer premium"—or plastic tax—to be placed on every ton of newly manufactured plastics. A tax like this could form part of the Global Plastic Treaty being hammered out right now in Busan, South Korea. In fact, a treaty aimed at stopping plastic waste will have to have strong measures such as a plastic tax or a cap on plastic production to shift the status quo.