Delegates from 175 nations and environment groups are arriving in the southeastern port city of Busan ahead of the Fifth Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee(INC-5) Meeting on Plastic Pollution opening on Monday.

The biennial conference, which is mandated by a landmark resolution passed at the 2022 United Nations Environment Assembly(UNEA), convened for the first time in Uruguay later that year.

The next three forums were hosted by France, Kenya and Canada.

The participating nations are committed to signing an international treaty by the year's end, agreeing to tackle plastic pollution.

According to a report by Seoul-based nonprofit civic group Our Sea of East Asia Network, plastic production expanded over 300 times from around one-point-five million tons in the 1950s to 460 million tons in 2019.

Microplastics, tiny particles less than five millimeters in size, pose a serious health threat not only to plant and animal life, but also humans at the top of the food chain.