(2023-05-24) Un Parties Are Worlds Apart On Plastics Treaty Solutions

U.N. parties are worlds apart on plastics treaty solutions. China and the United States are taking a far less aggressive position on implementation, recommending a voluntary national approach, while Pacific Island countries and the European Union want to see stricter rules for compliance and more focus on production limits. At this point, no one has any idea what the final treaty document will look like.

There’s a non-binding deadline to come up with an enforceable plan by 2025.

Nations still need to hash out to what degree the treaty will focus on recycling, reducing disposable single-use plastic products, manufacturing less harmful materials, and much more.

The United States, as with China, proposes leaving regulation largely up to individual nations, seeking a “country-driven instrument” that would be far more voluntary than internationally binding. The U.S. is also a leading plastic producer and a top exporter of plastic trash.

A variety of agencies helped draft the U.S. submission, led by the State Department but also including the departments of commerce, agriculture, and health and human services, plus the Environmental Protection Agency, White House, and others

It’s well understood that the most successful environmental treaty of all time, the 1987 Montreal Protocol, relied heavily on the mandatory control of the production of substances that deplete the ozone layer.

The American Chemistry Council, which represents, among others, ”America’s plastic makers,” spent $19.82 million last year on lobbying the U.S. federal government on a multitude of matters, according to Open Secrets

The international Business Coalition for a Global Plastics Treaty favors a strong, legally binding international agreement. Founded last September

Environmental NGO WWF convened a meeting of the coalition in March 2023 in Washington, D.C., with more than 150 attendees from business, government and nonprofits. WWF says it plans to distribute policy recommendations arising out of that gathering, including proposals to improve recycling and deposit returns. Anthony Tusino, WWF’s senior program officer for plastics policy, gave Mongabay a statement underlining the importance of recycling as part of the solution but acknowledging we “cannot recycle our way out of the problem