Attempts to secure a landmark treaty combating plastic pollution descended into disarray on the penultimate day of talks Wednesday as dozens of countries rejected the latest draft text, leaving the talks in limbo.

With time running out to seal a deal among the 184 countries gathered at the United Nations in Geneva, several countries slammed a proposed compromise text put forward by talks chair Luis Vayas Valdivieso of Ecuador.

A larger bloc of countries seeking more ambitious actions blasted what they consider a dearth of legally binding action, saying the draft text was the lowest common denominator and would reduce the treaty to a toothless waste-management agreement.

But oil-producing states said the text went too far for their liking, crossing their red lines too and not doing enough in paring down the scope of the treaty.

The talks towards striking a legally binding instrument on tackling plastic pollution opened on August 5.

Five previous rounds of talks over the past two and a half........

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