As world leaders prepare for the fifth and final negotiations for a global treaty to end plastic pollution (INC-5), the urgency of the situation is clear: plastic pollution continues to ravage our planet, destroying ecosystems and wildlife populations, fuelling climate change and infiltrating our bodies through the air we breathe and the food and water we consume. Since the start of the negotiations alone, nearly 20 million metric tonnes of plastics have entered our ocean.

As a starting point, the treaty must include binding, global bans and phase-outs of problematic and avoidable plastic products and chemicals of concern.

Single-use plastic products, many of which may be harmful to human health and/or difficult to recycle – account for 60% of global plastic production and 70% of ocean pollution and must be urgently tackled.
Countries must agree to global, science-based criteria which includes:

The treaty must also include lists and specific phaseout timelines and targets, as well as transparency and disclosure requirements, to ensure the complete elimination of these harmful plastics and chemicals from the plastic value chain.

The treaty must establish binding, global requirements on product design and performance and have a dedicated focus on setting up new systems to ensure reduction, reuse, and safe recycling for the remaining plastics.

Establishing harmonized global product design requirements and systems will:

a) provide clear and consistent guidelines and a level playing field and regulatory certainty for businesses

b) optimize material efficiency and significantly displace single-use items, making it more feasible to phase out single-use plastics and lower pollution rates.

As a starting point, the measures should target products that are consumed in high volumes, likely to become pollution and cause more harm due to their design (i.e. beverage bottles and food containers). Initial requirements and guidelines should focus on priority plastic products’ reusability and recyclability, on recycled plastics, and on setting up essential systems to create a circular economy such as reuse systems and extended producer responsibility (EPR) schemes.

Beyond the treaty’s adoption, parties must strengthen this measure through a tailored and sector-specific criteria for priority industries that contribute to plastic pollution: packaging, fisheries and aquaculture, agriculture, textiles and transport.

The treaty must establish binding, global requirements on product design and performance and have a dedicated focus on setting up new systems to ensure reduction, reuse, and safe recycling for the remaining plastics.

Establishing harmonized global product design requirements and systems will:

a) provide clear and consistent guidelines and a level playing field and regulatory certainty for businesses

b) optimize material efficiency and significantly displace single-use items, making it more feasible to phase out single-use plastics and lower pollution rates.

As a starting point, the measures should target products that are consumed in high volumes, likely to become pollution and cause more harm due to their design (i.e. beverage bottles and food containers). Initial requirements and guidelines should focus on priority plastic products’ reusability and recyclability, on recycled plastics, and on setting up essential systems to create a circular economy such as reuse systems and extended producer responsibility (EPR) schemes.

Beyond the treaty’s adoption, governments must strengthen this measure through a tailored and sector-specific criteria for priority industries that contribute to plastic pollution: packaging, fisheries and aquaculture, agriculture, textiles and transport.

The treaty must include a comprehensive finance package that leverages all available sources and aligns both public and private financial flows with the objectives of the treaty and the implementation of its measures.

This package will ensure predictable, adequate, fair and accessible financial support for all countries to effectively implement the treaty. The financial resources needed are considerable, but the costs of inaction are far greater, especially for low-income countries.

Achieving the treaty’s goal of ending plastic pollution demands mobilizing and distributing additional financial resources – especially for implementation in developing countries – to reduce plastic pollution and also stopping harmful financial flows that contribute to plastic pollution.

To maximize the impact of any financial support, while also enhancing the technical and technological capabilities of all countries, the treaty should secure non-financial resources to enable effective implementation, particularly through technology transfer, capacity building, sharing best practices, training programmes and fostering international cooperation.

Future-proof the treaty through mechanisms that allow for the strengthening of control and implementation measures beyond its adoption.

The current set of proposed priority measures provides a sound basis for global action; but to end plastic pollution, countries must progressively expand and dial up their efforts over time.

• To identify areas for improvement, the treaty must include requirements for data collection, transparent reporting mechanisms and regular assessments to track progress. It also needs mechanisms that allow for experts to make technical recommendations, based on sound scientific evidence and emerging knowledge and technologies.
• To make additions and amendments to the treaty, it must include provisions specifying how parties make decisions, such as allowing for voting in cases where consensus cannot be reached. 

A transition to a robust non-toxic circular economy that is aligned with planetary boundaries will incentivise the retention of materials in the economy and reduce the demand for single-use plastic products. In order to deliver on this goal in the long run, we need measures which address the full life cycle of plastic including the supply and demand for primary plastic production.