Negotiators trying to secure a global agreement on tackling the scourge of plastic pollution have less than 24 hours to salvage a deal on Thursday after the talks plunged into total disarray.

Countries wanting bold action to turn the tide on plastic garbage are so far apart from a group of oil-producing nations that the prospects of finding meaningful common ground before Friday -- after three years of talks -- seem low.

With just over a day to go, the talks chair Luis Vayas Valdivieso produced a draft text based on the few areas of convergence, in an attempt to find common ground.

But the draft succeeded only in infuriating virtually all corners and the text was immediately shredded as one country after another ripped it to bits.

For the self-styled ambitious countries, it was an empt

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