A sneak peek into upcoming plastics treaty talks

Advocates for addressing plastic pollution and circularity on a panel at K 2022 said they have their eyes on upcoming talks for a global plastics treaty.

Several panelists at an Oct. 21 discussion, organized by the trade group Plastics Europe, said they hoped the treaty talks, which begin at the end of November, will lead to changes in how plastics are managed. Recommendations from participants included improving working conditions for people who collect plastic waste in developing countries; creating transparent rules to better measure plastic footprints similar to carbon footprints now; and upgrading global standards to make recycling more of a national rather than local issue.

Nicholas Kolesch, vice president of projects at the Alliance to End Plastic Waste, said the treaty should elevate plastics recycling standards as a global topic.

"Waste management in most places is a municipal responsibility," he said. "It's not aggregated at a state level or a higher level. We see that in the U.S.; we see that in Indonesia.

"We're trying to elevate it to a higher level, so that we can bring more standardization around the collection activities and take some of that confusion out," Kolesch said. "I think there's a huge role for the global plastics treaty negotiations to look at how some of that harmonization can happen around the world, to make it easier for us to recycle, to make it easier for us to manage our waste."

A finished treaty is expected by the end of 2024, a fast timeline for such an agreement. Diplomats, environmental groups and industry are expected to gather in numbers at an opening session in Uruguay next month.

Emma Silver, global public affairs director for the Minderoo Foundation's No Plastic Waste Initiative, said the treaty needs to focus on improving lives of people in developing countries who try to make a living collecting plastic and other waste.

"One of the things I think the global treaty has a particular role in is to lift up standards for the informal waste collection industry, which is a huge problem again, in places like Africa and in Indonesia," she said.

"You've got large numbers of people, often women and children, who are picking through unsorted, unhygienic wastes to try to find plastics, which they feel are valuable, which is great, because there's value in those plastics, but it's terrible the way it's happening," Silver said. "We need to make sure that for that kind of informal waste sector, that there are more protections for those workers, both from a health and safety perspective, but also economically."

Minderoo, a foundation backed by Australian mining billionaire Andrew Forrest, has been very active in plastics issues.

Minderoo published a "Plastic Waste Makers Index" report last year, identifying the 20 resin makers — and their investors — it said produced more than 50 percent of the material used in the world's single-use plastics.

Silver said the report is not intended as a "name-and-shame" exercise, but rather because they believe there's not enough public information on it.

She told the audience at K the plastics industry should expect more demands for reporting "plastic footprints" in the same way companies now are required to report carbon footprints.

Minderoo is working with the Pew Charitable Trusts and the Ellen MacArthur Foundation to have companies report plastic footprints starting next year.

"It's not a sexy subject, but it's something that's so important," Silver said. "I'd love to see how that company-level reporting can roll up into country-level reporting to inform a really strong, robust global treaty because we can't take action without having those numbers and those metrics at our disposal.

"Plastics footprint reporting is in its very, very early stages," she said. "There are lots and lots of companies who are doing it on a voluntary basis at the moment, but I do think that will become mandatory in the future.

"Companies who really want to get ahead, who really want to innovate and who really want to show that they're leading the way should be doing this voluntarily now," she said.