Biden administration endorses global plastics treaty

Secretary of State Antony Blinken is throwing the U.S. government's support behind negotiations for a global plastics treaty, boosting momentum on talks that are expected to begin in February.

In remarks Nov. 18 at the U.N. environment agency's headquarters in Kenya, Blinken said the agreement should include strong national action plans. It suggests President Joe Biden could be taking a more muscular approach on the treaty than former President Donald Trump's administration.

"It's crucial that the agreement call on countries to develop and enforce strong national action plans to address this problem at its source," Blinken said. "Our goal is to create a tool that we can use to protect our oceans and all of the life that they sustain from growing global harms of plastic pollution."

The top U.S. diplomat did not go into details on what those national plans could look like, however, and there have been some sharp lines in preliminary talks between those who favor a more prescriptive agreement and those seeking more national flexibility.

Some countries have pushed for a legally binding pact like a Montreal ozone protocol for plastics.

Blinken noted that a lot of work has already been done but called on private companies to step up their efforts.

"Many countries, climate and ocean advocates, [and] private companies have supported this effort for some time," he said. "The private sector, in particular, will need to do more to cut plastic pollution and invest in innovation."

In comments to the UN agency, he framed the U.S. position as strengthening its work on the issue.

"Today, we are stepping up … our efforts to tackle another pollutant that threatens our planet, plastic, by announcing the United States' support for multilateral negotiations on a global agreement to combat ocean plastic pollution," he said.

The talks are expected to start in February during the next session of the UN Environment Assembly, at the headquarters of the UN Environment Program in Kenya, and could take several years.

The American Chemistry Council said in a Nov. 18 statement that it supports a global agreement and pointed to a five-point plan it unveiled in September that included national action plans, improved waste collection and packaging design, and recognition of the role of plastics and life cycle analysis in building low-carbon societies.

"We are supportive of a global agreement among nations that will accelerate a transition to a more circular economy by expanding systems and infrastructure to collect and repurpose plastic resources," said Joshua Baca, ACC's vice president of plastics.

ACC's five-point plan calls for countries to eliminate plastic leakage into the environment by a specific date, but also urges "flexibility based on local circumstances" and regionally appropriate action plans.

The Plastics Industry Association, in a statement, didn't directly comment on the treaty but noted that Blinken recognized the importance of industry in finding solutions and said companies were "taking a lead" to address plastic waste, innovate and create jobs.

In other remarks, Blinken noted that between 8 million and 14 million tons of plastic are dumped into the ocean each year, and he pointed to impacts both on sea life that eat the plastic and on human health and economies.

"Because plastics absorb toxins, when we eat seafood, we're not only consuming microplastics, but toxins as well," he said. "In addition, plastic pollution can hurt small-scale fishing and discourage tourism to coastal areas."

He pointed to previous U.S. efforts like the Department of Energy's Plastics Innovation Challenge that funds research on plastic waste and new materials, and a broader 2019 plan from Washington for $1.2 billion to promote sustainable fisheries, fight marine debris and invest in science.

Blinken also singled out two Kenyan entrepreneurs he said he met before his speech: one who built a company that uses plastic waste to make bricks for paving roads and another organizing informal waste collectors.

In remarks before Blinken, the head of the UN environment agency, Inger Andersen, said the treaty could be pivotal.

"We must recognize that the work that member states are leading on plastic pollution has the potential to be a turning point," she said.

Greenpeace said it was encouraged that the Biden administration was supporting the talks but said any treaty should look beyond ocean issues.

"Our focus must be broader than keeping plastic waste out of the ocean," said Greenpeace USA Oceans Campaign Director John Hocevar. "We have put so much plastic into the environment that it is in the food we eat, the water we drink and the air we breathe."

He said the treaty should look at reducing plastic production, but U.S. government officials have previously expressed skepticism about other global diplomatic efforts they saw as potentially limiting production.