The American Chemistry Council is asking President Joe Biden for a meeting ahead of the next round of plastics treaty talks, urging him to push for an agreement that still recognizes the material's benefits while reducing waste.
An ACC executive said the group is worried the treaty could become an "activist wish list to end plastic."
The March 14 letter to Biden said the United States would be in a "key position to help forge agreement" as talks resume in Canada in late April, and it outlined steps ACC supports, like national action plans with extended producer responsibility programs and more recycled content.
But it also asked Biden not to support treaty measures that ACC said would make U.S. manufacturers less competitive or reduce the contributions from plastics in areas like food safety, reducing the energy footprint of homes and delivering medical care.
"We are concerned that the negotiations are moving away from the original intent of the [United Nations Environment Assembly] resolution to end plastic pollution and instead turning into an activist wish list to end plastic," said Ross Eisenberg, president of America's Plastics Makers, a unit of ACC.
"We're asking President Biden to meet with us to discuss practical ways we can eliminate plastic pollution through an effective agreement all countries can join that doesn't eliminate the massive societal benefits plastics provide," he said in a statement.
The letter from ACC President and CEO Chris Jahn said the U.S. government should help guide the talks.
"We encourage the U.S., through its statements at home and in the global negotiations, to steer the global community away from measures that will make U.S. manufacturers less competitive and/or jeopardize the many benefits plastics provide to the economy and the environment," it said.
Among measures the measure ACC wants the treaty to avoid: restrictions on plastic production; bans of materials, chemistries or products; and limits on recycling technologies and trade in polymers.
"We believe the global community can arrive at a successful and effective agreement to end plastic pollution," the letter said. "We would appreciate the opportunity to discuss our recommendations with you."
ACC's letter comes as other groups have been writing Biden ahead of the talks in Canada.
The Business Coalition for a Global Plastics Treaty, for example, wrote Biden March 4 urging him to back a treaty that includes EPR, phaseouts of "problematic plastics," financial help for developing countries and a science panel to evaluate the environmental, social and economic life cycle impacts of plastic.
The correspondence from those groups follows a Feb. 23 letter to Biden from 22 environmental groups, who similarly asked for a meeting on the plastics treaty.
"Your leadership is needed to shift the approach the U.S. has been taking so far, which has been more aligned with the plastic industry than that of the American people," according to the letter, which was signed by Greenpeace, the Center for International Environmental Law, Beyond Plastics and others.
The Canada negotiations will be the fourth of five planned rounds. The last session in Kenya in November ended in a partial stalemate, with disagreements between oil-producing nations and others over the scope of a treaty and one environmental group saying the talks were "not in a good place."
As well, other groups are urging the treaty to include much stronger provisions evaluating human health impacts from the chemicals used in making plastic.
ACC's letter to Biden echoes other recent comments from its leaders against the treaty including caps on virgin resin production and it urges the U.S. to focus on "implementable language" in the treaty and pursue domestic policies that "constructively and intelligently" address plastic pollution.
"With [the next negotiations] just over a month away, the U.S. is in a key position to help forge agreement among delegations and arrive at an effective final agreement," ACC said.
Specifically, the group told Biden a treaty should have six key elements, including balancing global harmonized measures with flexibility for national circumstances and national targets on recycled content, EPR and prioritizing high-leakage applications.
It also pointed to public-private partnerships like the recently launched End Plastic Pollution International Collaborative and said the treaty should include best practices guidance and capacity building measures.
It also backed calls for the treaty to have "mandated participation" in certified plastic pellet leakage programs like the industry's voluntary Operation Clean Sweep.
More than 40 members of Congress introduced legislation March 13 that would require the EPA to write mandatory regulations for pellet containment.