175 countries commit to create historic global plastics treaty

Aims to address full lifecycle of plastics and create circular economy

ONE HUNDRED and seventy-five nations have agreed to create a global treaty to end plastics pollution and bring about a circular economy, in a move described as the most ambitious environmental action since the 1989 international agreement to halt the use of CFCs.

The resolution agreed by heads of state and environment ministers at the UN Environment Assembly (UNEA) in March establishes an intergovernmental negotiating committee (INC) which will begin work this year to complete a draft legally-binding agreement by the end of 2024. Plans are for the agreement to address the full lifecycle of plastics, covering their design and production so they can be reused, remanufactured or recycled. This will help retain plastics in the economy for as long as possible – creating a circular economy – that will minimise waste.

The current linear use of plastics chiefly involves producing them from virgin resources and then disposing of them after use. This has created a global industry worth around US$522.6bn that by 2017 was producing some 350m t/y of plastic. The Pew Trust reported in 2020 that this output could double by 2040, but without adopting a circular model where plastics are reused rather than incinerated or sent to landfill, plastic pollution will continue to rise. It is estimated that 11m t/y flows into oceans. A new treaty would create measures for countries to clean up existing pollution.

Conservation organisation WWF welcomed the UN agreement, describing it as the most ambitious environmental action since countries signed the 1989 Montreal Protocol to phase out ozone-depleting substances.