Tokyo, 16 April 2023 (dpa/MIA) — Environment ministers from the G7 group of industrialized democratic nations have vowed to end plastic pollution by 2040.

At the end of a two-day meeting in the Japanese city of Sapporo, they reached a deal on Sunday. It goes further than the target date of 2050 agreed by the wider G20 group of nations in 2019.

"Cheap plastic for disposable products has become increasingly dominant in industrialized countries," said German Environment Minister Steffi Lemke in a statement.

"It is therefore particularly important that the G7 now commits to a quick end to plastic waste."

The legally binding agreement should be negotiated by the end of 2024.

According to the environmental group WWF, 19 million to 23 million tons of plastic waste enter oceans, lakes and rivers every year.

The G7 is made up of current president Japan as well as Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and the United States.