A global treaty to end plastics pollution is a step closer after United Nations negotiators set a November deadline to draft an agreement.
The Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee on Plastic Pollution held the second of five scheduled meetings last week in Paris to develop a legally binding document on plastic pollution. The November session will take place in Nairobi, Kenya, in November.
More than 1,700 participants, including representatives from 169 countries, convened in Paris to discuss a comprehensive approach that addresses the full life cycle of plastic.
Industry groups and international stakeholders are bringing different approaches to the negotiating table, with many chemical and plastics producers calling for more recycled material over production limits.
“The negotiations underscored that there is significant alignment on the need for an agreement to accelerate circularity of plastics, unleash innovation, promote sustainable consumption and production of plastics, encourage design for circularity, and help build and sustain waste management systems around the world, all based on the unique needs and circumstances of each country,” said Joshua Baca, ACC’s vice president of plastics in a statement released on June 2.
Following the session, Inger Andersen, executive director of the UN Environment Programme, called for a policy that would lead to redesigned products that use less plastic.
“Plastic has been the default option in design for too long,” she said in a news release. “It is time to redesign products to use less plastic, particularly unnecessary and problematic plastics, to redesign product packaging and shipping to use less plastic, to redesign systems and products for reuse and recyclability and to redesign the broader system for justice. The INC has the power to deliver this transformation, bringing major opportunities for everyone.”