A global plastics treaty is being negotiated in Ottawa this week – here’s the latest

• To make matters worse, the global trade in plastic waste tends to push waste to parts of the world with the least capacity to manage it.
• The global plastics treaty focuses on ending plastic pollution, not eliminating the use of plastics.

Divisive positions

• Negotiators must make rapid and significant progress this week towards a comprehensive treaty.
• There is a broad division between countries, ranging from “low-ambition” countries which have hindered progress to a high-ambition coalition (led by Rwanda and Norway).
• Or will it be a weaker treaty, with voluntary and country-led measures that focus mainly on waste management and pollution prevention (the “downstream” stages)?

Voices in the room

• There is ongoing dialogue regarding which voices are in attendance and influencing governments.
• If industry has such a large presence, there is considerable work to be done to amplify the voices of civil rights groups, NGOs and evidence-based contributions from academics.

Financing implementation

• Without financial support, there is a significant risk that even well-intentioned measures could falter.
• A well-structured financial framework could ensure transparency and accountability through a mixture of private and public finance or novel mechanisms such as plastic pollution fees.

Shifting away from waste management

• There is a strong argument by the petrochemical and fossil fuel industry and some lower-ambition countries that the treaty should focus on waste management, improved collection, recycling and removal technologies.
• But plastic production is so great that solutions to prevent or manage plastic waste and pollution cannot keep up, and will only reduce global plastic pollution by 7% in the long term.

Reuse as a potential early victory

• Not to be confused with recycling or refill, reuse emphasises the repeated use of items in their current form, curtailing the demand for new plastic production for single-use products or packaging.
• Reuse would be relatively agreeable for most countries, especially when compared to divisive measures such as caps on production or outright bans on certain items or materials.

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Antaya March receives funding from the Flotilla Foundation and the United Nations Environment Programme. Cressida Bowyer receives funding from UK Research and Innovation (UKRI). Steve Fletcher receives funding from the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), the Flotilla Foundation, the UK Government and the United Nations Environment Programme. He currently serves as the NERC Agenda Setting Fellow for Plastic Pollution.