Orlando, Fla. — The likely completion of a global plastics treaty later this year will be just the beginning of pressure on the industry as countries will look to strengthen the deal over time, according to senior U.S. diplomats visiting the NPE2024 plastics show.
Two U.S. State Department diplomats involved in negotiating the treaty came to NPE2024 in Orlando, Fla., where they gave a public update to an industry conference and said they planned to spend several days meeting with companies and industry officials.
Keri Holland, a senior policy adviser in the State Department's Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs, told NPE attendees May 6 that the treaty is likely to take a "start and strengthen" approach, where the provisions could be "ratcheted up" at future diplomatic conferences to implement the agreement.
"Just because we get an agreement now that sets a floor, that doesn't mean you can't ratchet up through subsequent meetings," she said, noting that the plastics agreement will have what diplomats call "conference of parties" meetings annually or periodically that could add to the pact.
In an interview after Holland's speech, another State Department diplomat visiting NPE, Jonathan Gillibrand, said the conference of parties for plastics will be like the climate treaty's annual updates, referred to as COPs.
"There's going to be 20 years of pressure to do better on plastics, whatever the treaty sets up," Gillibrand said. "You have to have companies understand that they need to do a better job. They're going to have to do a better job designing the products [and] choosing the materials. Is it recyclable? Is it good for circularity? Is it better for greenhouse?"
Both Holland and Gillibrand were on the U.S. government delegation to the last round of treaty talks, held April 23-29 in Ottawa, Ontario. It's the fourth of five planned rounds, with the last round of negotiations scheduled for South Korea later this year.
But Gillibrand said the industry should start thinking about the COP meetings that will come after the formal deal, assuming the 170-plus nations are able to stick to their current timeline and reach agreement by the end of the year.
"We have a start and strengthen approach. The strengthen is real," said Gillibrand, who is also a senior adviser in the Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs. "Each COP could have a theme. It's going to push industry. It's going to push everybody. You're starting a 20-year process, just like climate."
In her comments to the conference, Holland said the U.S. is looking for a plastics treaty that many countries can agree to, which includes both mandatory actions every country must take and voluntary actions countries could take to go further. She alluded to differences in the talks between countries advocating a broader treaty that looks at more controversial measures like sustainable levels of plastic production, or a deal focused more on waste management and cleaning up plastics in the environment.
