what are the building blocks of the new plastic pollution treaty?

Faced with the massive increase of plastic production and its impact on our health and the environment, the UN Environment Assembly took the landmark decision in March 2022 to begin negotiations to draft a new international legally binding instrument (ILBI) on plastic pollution, regulating the production, distribution and end of life stages of the material. The negotiations mark the beginning of a process which will aim to strengthen global environmental governance by tackling the environmental, social and economic cost of plastic.

The process is clearly complicated, involving stakeholders from States through to informal waste pickers via fossil fuel companies, multinational companies and consumers. Leadership in the negotiation process will be a key element, as will the creation of ‘coalitions of the willing‘ for the various elements under discussion with intersessional work imperative in order to allow for the work of drafting the text to move forward at speed at each of the five sessions planned for the INC. It is highly doubtful that universal support for the treaty will be achieved. Some States are calling for strong regulation, others wish to avoid multinational regulation. Extensive lobbying from States in which the plastic production industry currently thrives is to be expected. On the other hand, massive support for the call to regulate the industry can be seen at the level of civil society around the world. The INC must decide how far the treaty will oblige States to act, whether the instrument will be top-down, with binding provisions obliging States to follow regulations and imposing restrictions on plastic trade (similar to other strong environmental agreements like the Montreal Protocol, Stockholm Convention or Minamata Convention) with a mandatory system for setting and reporting on National Action Plans and a compliance mechanism, or bottom-up, allowing States to set, report on and develop their own targets on a voluntary basis with a soft monitoring and review process (as with the Paris Agreement).

Negotiators will need to take these approaches into consideration:

A life cycle approach: addressing all stages of a plastic product, from the production, design and use through to end of life (so upstream, midstream and downstream) and involving stakeholders at each stage in the life cycle. The concept of Extended Producer Responsibility must be included, encompassing management of the potential impacts of a product in all stages of production, distribution, use, collection, reuse, recycling, reprocessing and disposal and a circular system must be the goal, moving away from the linear take-make-waste use to the zero waste, circular economy, whereby plastic is viewed as a valuable material which should not be wasted.

Upstream involves the extraction of fossil fuels, the use of alternative feedstocks (including bio-based feedstocks and recycled content) and the production process. Ending subsidies for the fossil fuel industry and capping the production of virgin plastic should be encouraged while a competitive pricing index is established through taxes levied on virgin materials and/or by offering subsidies for the use of recyclates. Incentives need to be provided to ensure that industries do not return to virgin plastic as an easier and cheaper alternative. Restrictions should be implemented on single-use applications and the use of toxic additives. Harmonized standards should be created for feedstock materials and recyclates.

Midstream involves the design and production of plastic products and plastic-containing products, the distribution, trade, and placing on the market of these products and their consumption. Products and packaging need to be evaluated for their content of problematic and hazardous chemicals and for their level of usefulness. Responsible and sustainable consumption needs to be encouraged for private consumers, public procurers, business and industry. A sectoral approach with a working programme for each industrial sector, whether fisheries, agriculture, packaging, textiles, healthcare or construction needs to be established.

Downstream involves the repair, refurbishment, reuse, recycling of products, waste minimization, capture of microplastic emissions, a responsible plastic waste trade (with the regulation of exports), and disposal of residual wastes (composting, incineration or landfill), together with the tracing and controlling of illegal dumping. By taking away the stigma attached to waste and encouraging a mindset where plastic is seen as a valuable commodity and repair as preferable to disposal, government incentives can help attract investment in the recycling industry. Particular attention needs to be paid here to the informal waste collection sector.

A global approach: establishing definitions for plastic terms (e.g. recyclable, compostable, problem plastics, and toxic), harmonized metrics, classification and labelling for chemicals and materials (enabling consumers and the waste disposal industry to identify resin types, recycle more efficiently and establish a stable market for supply and demand of recycled plastic), standards for the calculation of plastic credits, and allowing for plastic produced in one State, used in a second, recycled in another and the use of the recycled material to manufacture goods in yet another.

A cross-sectoral approach: bringing together States and non-State entities from business, NGOs, academia and civil society, providing a programme of work for each industrial sector, whether fisheries, agriculture, packaging, textiles, healthcare or construction.

An inclusive approach: States are approaching the issue from a huge variety of production, consumption and impact levels. The situation of small-island developing States and marginalised communities, as well as equity issues (such as a just transition, human rights and public health and the right to a healthy environment) need to be addressed.

A data-driven approach: scientific evidence, data and information relating to distribution and trade of plastic products, levels of plastic pollution needs to be collected, reviewed and made available.

An incremental approach: the instrument should strengthen over time, with the COP able to accelerate or expand measures.

The instrument will need to include these elements:

Objectives: to freeze and phase out single-use, problematic, unnecessary, hazardous and harmful plastics through design, to remove toxic chemicals added to plastics, to prohibit certain products (such as microbeads in cosmetics), to promote plastic-free sustainable alternatives and stop plastic pollution.

Core elements: to set obligations regarding elimination and minimisation (the production and consumption of high-risk and unnecessary plastic), circular approaches (design and development of a circular economy) and safe management of plastic (waste management) and the development of mandatory national action plans.

Supporting provisions: to include definitions, reporting, development, implementation and updating of National Action Plans, a comprehensive monitoring and reporting framework, transparency, technical assistance and financial cooperation.

Institutional arrangements: to establish a review body, Conference of Parties, secretariat, financial, technical and capacity building support.

Final clauses: to address depositary, signature, ratification, reservations, declarations, entry into force, enforcement, dispute settlement, amendments, revisions, modifications, duration, withdrawal and termination.