Skip to main content
Sister Publication Links
  • Sustainable Plastics
  • Rubber News
Subscribe
  • Sign Up Free
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • News
    • Processor News
    • Suppliers
    • More News
    • Digital Edition
    • End Markets
    • Special Reports
    • Newsletters
    • Resin pricing news
    • Videos
    • Injection Molding
    • Blow Molding
    • Film & Sheet
    • Pipe/Profile/Tubing
    • Rotomolding
    • Thermoforming
    • Recycling
    • Machinery
    • Materials
    • Molds/Tooling
    • Product news
    • Design
    • K Show
    • Mergers & Acquisitions
    • Sustainability
    • Public Policy
    • Material Insights Videos
    • Numbers that Matter
    • Automotive
    • Packaging
    • Medical
    • Consumer Products
    • Construction
    • Processor of the Year
    • Best Places to Work
    • Women Breaking the Mold
    • Rising Stars
    • Diversity
    • Most Interesting Social Media Accounts in Plastics
  • Opinion
    • The Plastics Blog
    • Kickstart
    • One Good Resin
    • Pellets and Politics
    • All Things Data
    • Viewpoint
    • From Pillar to Post
    • Perspective
    • Mailbag
    • Fake Plastic Trees
  • Shop Floor
    • Blending
    • Compounding
    • Drying
    • Injection Molding
    • Purging
    • Robotics
    • Size Reduction
    • Structural Foam
    • Tooling
    • Training
  • Events
    • K Show Livestream
    • Plastics News Events
    • Industry Events
    • Injection Molding & Design Expo
    • Livestreams/Webinars
    • Editorial Livestreams
    • Ask the Expert
    • Plastics News Events Library
    • Processor of the Year submissions
    • Plastics News Executive Forum
    • Injection Molding & Design Expo
    • Plastics News Caps & Closures
    • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum
    • Plastics in Automotive
    • PN Live: Mergers and Acquisitions
    • Polymer Points Live
    • Numbers that Matter Live
    • Plastics in Politics Live
    • Sustainable Plastics Live
    • Plastics Caps & Closures Library
    • Plastics in Healthcare Library
    • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum Library
  • Rankings & Data
    • Injection Molders
    • Blow Molders
    • Film Sheet
    • Thermoformers
    • Pipe Profile Tubing
    • Rotomolders
    • Mold/Toolmakers
    • LSR Processors
    • Recyclers
    • Compounders - List
    • Association - List
    • Plastic Lumber - List
    • All
  • Directory
  • Resin Prices
    • Commodity TPs
    • High Temp TPs
    • ETPs
    • Thermosets
    • Recycled Plastics
    • Historic Commodity Thermoplastics
    • Historic High Temp Thermoplastics
    • Historic Engineering Thermoplastics
    • Historic Thermosets
    • Historic Recycled Plastics
  • Custom
    • Sponsored Content
    • LS Mtron Sponsored Content
    • Conair Sponsored Content
    • KraussMaffei Sponsored Content
    • ENGEL Sponsored Content
    • White Papers
    • Classifieds
    • Place an Ad
    • Sign up for Early Classified
MENU
Breadcrumb
  1. Home
  2. Public Policy
September 21, 2022 02:45 PM

A ‘robust' plastics treaty push by governments, businesses at UN meeting

Steve Toloken
Assistant Managing Editor
Plastics News Staff
  • Tweet
  • Share
  • Share
  • Email
  • More
    Reprints Print
    Environment Canada bottle-main_i.jpg
    Environment Canada

    With the first round of negotiations for a global plastics pollution treaty starting later this year, advocates for a more robust agreement are using the U.N. General Assembly session in New York to try to steer the talks.

    A coalition of consumer product makers, financial institutions and a few plastic firms, for example, issued a call Sept. 21 for the treaty to move away from fossil fuel-based plastics, cut back on single-use packaging and restrict materials they consider problematic for recycling or composting.

    The group, the Business Coalition for a Global Plastics Treaty, includes major plastic packaging makers like Amcor Ltd., Alpla Inc., Greiner AG and the Aptar Group Inc., along with resin maker Borealis AG.

    "We want to help land an effective treaty, with clear goals and robust policy measures to deliver them," said Henri Bruxelles, chief sustainability officer with coalition member Danone SA. "This is the only way we can build a packaging system that eliminates both leakage into the environment and dependency on fossil fuels."

    He called the treaty "a critical opportunity to address systemic barriers to plastics circularity, including those linked to collection systems, reuse infrastructure and availability of recycled material."

    Similarly, diplomats from a coalition of countries also seeking a strong treaty told a Sept. 21 online forum on the sidelines of the General Assembly session said they want the pact to set goals to "restrain" plastics use and end plastics pollution in the environment by 2040.

    "That's quite an ambitious goal," said Espen Barth Eide, Norway's climate minister. "In principle, I'd like to stop it tomorrow but given the amount of plastics that are used throughout the world, I think this is as ambitious a goal as we can get."

    Eide, one of two co-chairs of the 20-nation High Ambition Coalition to End Plastic Pollution, said he believes businesses are starting to look seriously at changing how they use plastics, after the United Nations Environment Assembly in March voted to move forward on a legally binding plastics treaty. Eide also chaired the UNEA meeting.

    He said some businesses see that the treaty talks, which are on a fast timeline to be completed by 2024, will change the regulatory environment around plastics.

    "Many of our partners and friends in civil society and in the business sector are telling me that the mandate from UNEA is already understood; people are already working … to change their production cycles to start preparing for a world where this is better regulated than it has been today," he said.

    "A number of companies who are either producers or consumers of plastic containers or packaging are starting to deal with this, so there is quite a good momentum," Eide said.

    Environmental groups said they supported the coalition. The Center for International Environmental Law said those countries were highlighting the “urgent need to address the problem at the source” and limit plastic production.

    Environment Canada
    Guilbeault
    Talks start in November

    The opening round of the treaty talks are set to start Nov. 28 in Uruguay, where diplomats will begin the complicated process of writing a detailed pact based on the UNEA framework adopted in March.

    It's not yet clear exactly what specifics will be in the treaty.

    The head of the Environment Programme urged countries to move faster than they have on climate treaties, and diplomats at the virtual event said the agreement should balance global targets against flexibility for countries to adopt their own national action plans.

    Steven Guilbeault, Canada's minister of environment and climate change, said Canada only recycles 9 percent of its plastics now.

    He said the government has moved ahead on bans of single-use plastics, although he noted it was being challenged in court by some companies.

    Beyond that, he said Canada is preparing new regulations on minimum recycled content, labeling and stronger producer responsibility systems to help pay for recycling.

    "Clearly we need to engage, we need to consult, but it can't be voluntary," he said. "We've spoken about the need for regulations. We've spoken about the need for incentivizing change."

    He said Canada is also moving ahead to eliminate fossil fuel subsidies by next year.

    "I think we have to look at everything," he said. "We need a healthy balance of carrots and sticks."

    Some large economies like Germany, the United Kingdom and South Korea are part of the High Ambition Coalition, but other major plastics manufacturing countries like the United States and China are not.

     

    Ministery of Environment Rwanda
    Andersen
    Inviting industry

    Inger Andersen, executive director of the U.N. Environment Programme, told the forum that treaty negotiators need to look at different parts of the plastics production chain.

    "Think about the raw polymer producers, invite them inside the tent and ask them to come up with solutions for more circular content — that's step one," she said. "Think about the converters, those who make the plastic pellets that we need for our plastic stuff, challenge them to have more recycled content.

    "And of course, be clear about the chemicals that go into that recycled content," Andersen said. "Think about the brands. They decide what specifications they need."

    She said the talks also need to consider global trade in plastics, how to educate consumers on recycling and how to finance more waste management, particularly in developing countries.

    "Money makes the world go around so we have to think about extended producer responsibility and deposit schemes," Andersen said.

    She and other diplomats at the online event said the treaty needs to consider the so-called "waste pickers," people often in developing countries who try to earn a living collecting recyclables.

    "Don't forget the poorest of the poor, the waste pickers," Andersen said. "Often they are female. Often they are impoverished, often they are primary earners for their families.

    "And the day we go in with a smart, fancy recycling plant, it's the men who will get the job and the women will be left behind," Andersen said.

    Several diplomats speaking at the event, including Andersen, said they want the treaty to consider how to build reusable packaging systems and encourage a move away from single-use.

    The forum included presentations on economic models to reduce plastics consumption and pollution impacts, delivered by the consultancy Systemiq and the Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development.

    OECD released a report earlier this year that said stricter government policies could, over several decades, dramatically reduce the growth rate of plastics production and cut both plastics in the environment and its climate impact.

    "This is not about incremental improvements, a little bit less, a little bit better bottle," said Eide. "This is really about reimagining the whole relationship to plastics.

    "Plastics is actually an extremely useful product, when it's used correctly, and terribly bad if you use it wrong," he said. "It's not about whether you're for or against; it's about using this genius thing, which is everlasting, for sort of long-lasting uses which are meaningful."

     

    United Nations
    Environmental concerns are part of the discussions at the United Nations General Assembly meetings in New York.
    Business coalition

    Along those lines, the business coalition issued a detailed statement of policies it would like to see the global treaty undertake as negotiators and stakeholders, including business and environmental groups, convene in Uruguay.

    The coalition includes major consumer product brands — and plastic buyers — like the Coca-Cola Co., PepsiCo Inc., Unilever, Walmart and Nestlé.

    Its vision statement said it wanted to reduce plastics production by focusing attention on polymers that have "high leakage rates, or short-lived, and/or are made using fossil-based virgin resources."

    It said it wanted the treaty to look at reuse models, instead of single-use, and it urged countries to take a broad view of challenges, including examining how to finance better collection and recycling systems and how to prevent microplastics from getting into the environment.

    The business group's statement builds on a similar January announcement from many of the same companies, where they urged UNEA to agree on a "robust" treaty.

    The group, which also includes the Ellen MacArthur Foundation and the environmental group WWF, said it will begin advocating specific policy positions within the treaty process.

    The business group's announcement was met with mixed reactions in some environmental quarters.

    Greenpeace said it welcomes the coalition's move toward reusable packaging and its call to stop using some types of plastics, but it called on the companies to "immediately limit and reduce total plastic production and use."

    However, coalition members, including resin maker Borealis, said the treaty would bring about much-needed new regulations and laws.

    "To address [plastic waste], we need to accelerate the transformation to a circular economy and prevent leakage into the environment," said Markus Horcher, director of sustainability and public affairs at Borealis. "A globally harmonized regulatory framework is key for success — the U.N. plastics treaty is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to make this transformation happen."

    RECOMMENDED FOR YOU
    White House: Bioplastics goal part of ‘huge urgency' on climate
    Letter
    to the
    Editor

    Do you have an opinion about this story? Do you have some thoughts you'd like to share with our readers? Plastics News would love to hear from you. Email your letter to Editor at [email protected]

    Most Popular
    1
    Plastics recycling undergoing tremendous change
    2
    Pipe extruder fined for child labor law violation
    3
    White House: Bioplastics goal part of ‘huge urgency' on climate
    4
    Tax credits, biorefinery support sought to fulfill Biden bioplastics goal
    5
    Achieving plastics sustainability will be a long journey
    SIGN UP FOR OUR FREE NEWSLETTERS
    EMAIL ADDRESS

    Please enter a valid email address.

    Please enter your email address.

    Please verify captcha.

    Please select at least one newsletter to subscribe.

    Get our newsletters

    Staying current is easy with Plastics News delivered straight to your inbox, free of charge.

    Subscribe today

    Subscribe to Plastics News

    Subscribe now
    Connect with Us
    • LinkedIn
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Instagram

    Plastics News covers the business of the global plastics industry. We report news, gather data and deliver timely information that provides our readers with a competitive advantage.

    Contact Us

    1155 Gratiot Avenue
    Detroit MI 48207-2997

    Customer Service:
    877-320-1723

    Resources
    • About
    • Staff
    • Editorial Calendar
    • Media Kit
    • Data Store
    • Digital Edition
    • Custom Content
    • People
    • Contact
    • Careers
    • Sitemap
    Related Crain Publications
    • Sustainable Plastics
    • Rubber News
    • Tire Business
    • Urethanes Technology
    Legal
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Policy
    • Privacy Request
    Copyright © 1996-2023. Crain Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
    • News
      • Processor News
        • Injection Molding
        • Blow Molding
        • Film & Sheet
        • Pipe/Profile/Tubing
        • Rotomolding
        • Thermoforming
        • Recycling
      • Suppliers
        • Machinery
        • Materials
        • Molds/Tooling
        • Product news
        • Design
      • More News
        • K Show
        • Mergers & Acquisitions
        • Sustainability
        • Public Policy
        • Material Insights Videos
        • Numbers that Matter
      • Digital Edition
      • End Markets
        • Automotive
        • Packaging
        • Medical
        • Consumer Products
        • Construction
      • Special Reports
        • Processor of the Year
        • Best Places to Work
        • Women Breaking the Mold
        • Rising Stars
        • Diversity
        • Most Interesting Social Media Accounts in Plastics
      • Newsletters
      • Resin pricing news
      • Videos
    • Opinion
      • The Plastics Blog
      • Kickstart
      • One Good Resin
      • Pellets and Politics
      • All Things Data
      • Viewpoint
      • From Pillar to Post
      • Perspective
      • Mailbag
      • Fake Plastic Trees
    • Shop Floor
      • Blending
      • Compounding
      • Drying
      • Injection Molding
      • Purging
      • Robotics
      • Size Reduction
      • Structural Foam
      • Tooling
      • Training
    • Events
      • K Show Livestream
      • Plastics News Events
        • Plastics News Executive Forum
        • Injection Molding & Design Expo
        • Plastics News Caps & Closures
        • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum
        • Plastics in Automotive
      • Industry Events
      • Injection Molding & Design Expo
      • Livestreams/Webinars
        • PN Live: Mergers and Acquisitions
      • Editorial Livestreams
        • Polymer Points Live
        • Numbers that Matter Live
        • Plastics in Politics Live
        • Sustainable Plastics Live
      • Ask the Expert
      • Plastics News Events Library
        • Plastics Caps & Closures Library
        • Plastics in Healthcare Library
        • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum Library
      • Processor of the Year submissions
    • Rankings & Data
      • Injection Molders
      • Blow Molders
      • Film Sheet
      • Thermoformers
      • Pipe Profile Tubing
      • Rotomolders
      • Mold/Toolmakers
      • LSR Processors
      • Recyclers
      • Compounders - List
      • Association - List
      • Plastic Lumber - List
      • All
    • Directory
    • Resin Prices
      • Commodity TPs
        • Historic Commodity Thermoplastics
      • High Temp TPs
        • Historic High Temp Thermoplastics
      • ETPs
        • Historic Engineering Thermoplastics
      • Thermosets
        • Historic Thermosets
      • Recycled Plastics
        • Historic Recycled Plastics
    • Custom
      • Sponsored Content
      • LS Mtron Sponsored Content
      • Conair Sponsored Content
      • KraussMaffei Sponsored Content
      • ENGEL Sponsored Content
      • White Papers
      • Classifieds
        • Place an Ad
        • Sign up for Early Classified