INC-4: EU urges plastic lifecycle approach with product bans and improved designs

22 Apr 2024 --- The EU is calling for global legally binding obligations across the entire lifecycle of plastics, from polymer production to waste management and final disposal, to prevent pollution. Tomorrow, world leaders and negotiators will begin the fourth round of Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC-4) sessions in Ottawa, Canada.

As the committee discusses a Global Plastics Treaty, executive vice president of the European Commission for the European Green Deal, Maroš Šefčovič, who is representing the Commission in Ottawa, says: “Plastics are important in our economy and daily lives, but the serious negative effects on the environment and human health caused by plastic pollution must come to an end.” 

“The new global treaty must transform the way plastic products are designed, produced, used and recycled. I call on all to join forces in the fight against pollution, which will also address the climate and biodiversity crises the world is currently facing.”

According to the EU, essential elements of the future treaty would be “obligatory elimination and restrictions on plastic products that are avoidable, or problematic as they are particularly prone to be littered or pose a significant risk to human health and the environment.” 

The institution also says that intentionally added microplastics to products should be banned.

Designing out plastics
The EU Directorate-General for Environment writes that substances and design features introduced at the production or manufacturing stage of the plastic life cycle significantly impact plastic pollution.

Adopting a legally binding instrument to end plastic pollution is a priority of the EU’s Circular Economy Action Plan under the European Green Deal. To mobilize support at INC-4, the EU is actively involved in the High Ambition Coalition (HAC) to End Plastic Pollution, which includes 65 countries committed to “aim high in the negotiations to end plastic pollution by 2040.”

Adopting a legally binding instrument to end plastic pollution is a priority of the European Green Deal.Ahead of INC-4, the coalition released a statement calling for binding provisions to restrain and reduce the production and consumption of primary plastic polymers to sustainable levels. HAC’s joint statement emphasizes the need to reach net zero GHG emissions in the plastics system and align treaty provisions with the 1.5 degrees Celsius target of the Paris Agreement.

HAC also underscores that standard global rules and economic tools are vital to drive the private sector to scale and speed up reliable investments in sustainability and generate sustainable economic opportunities for businesses in all regions through greater regulatory alignment and transparency.

“We, the Ministers of the High Ambition Coalition, call for binding provisions in the treaty to increase the safe circularity of plastics in the economy, guided by the waste hierarchy, including by focusing on the reduction of avoidable, unnecessary and problematic plastics,” they write. 

Furthermore, the coalition underlines ensuring that only plastic products adhering to a set of agreed criteria are produced, imported, exported and put on the market, and call for parties to commit to targets in key areas, such as reduction, repairability, environmentally sound and safe recyclability and reuse, refill systems and the use of recycled content.

Next steps  
The negotiations during the fourth session of the INC will continue until April 29. The treaty’s final text on global plastics pollution is expected to be concluded during the fifth session of the INC in November-December.

Packaging Insights spoke to the civil society Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL) ahead of the negotiations about plastic production cuts and “corporate capture.” We also highlighted a WWF analysis of states’ submissions to the treaty’s revised draft text, showing that most states support ambitious and legally binding global rules across the plastics lifecycle.

As the negotiations progress, we will keep you updated on the latest treaty developments. 

By Radhika Sikaria