Scientists warn of oversimplification ahead of UN global plastic treaty negotiations

25 Nov 2022 --- Next week, the United Nations intergovernmental negotiating committee will meet in Punta del Este, Uruguay, to develop an international legally binding treaty on plastic pollution. However, scientists have voiced concerns about the treaty’s success, flagging that the negotiations could overlook the diversity and complexity of chemicals in plastics, which would “severely undermine” the treaty’s effectiveness. 

The upcoming negotiation is only the first in a series of Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INCs) meetings expected to last until the end of 2024. 

However, the INC next week marks an important start to the discussions that aim at achieving an ambitious global plastics treaty needed to tackle the plastic and climate crisis. 

“At Greenpeace, we want to see a global plastics treaty that will limit plastic production and use, keep oil and gas in the ground, hold big polluters like Coca-Cola, Nestle and PepsiCo accountable for their excessive plastic production and build refill and reuse systems,” Capucine Dayen, global communications and engagement manager at Greenpeace USA, tells PackagingInsights.

“We also want to hear from frontline communities and ensure their voices are considered in the discussions. This is the only way to end the age of plastic for the sake of our communities, our environment and our climate.” 

Scientists warn that the treaty might fail due to underestimating the complexity of chemicals present in plastics.A crucial first meeting
The INC is a subsidiary body of the United Nations General Assembly with a mandate to negotiate an international convention (a global treaty). Here, member states and non-state stakeholders, like NGOs, scientists, labor unions and big brands, will discuss the needs, challenges, mechanisms and finances for implementing a global plastics treaty, explains Dayen.

“However, member states have the vote, and here is why it is important for us to make sure that our governments understand how crucial an ambitious global plastics treaty is to end the age of plastic.”

“INC meetings, like the first one happening in Uruguay, will be a critical space for ensuring a strong and ambitious treaty,” stresses Dayen.

Predestined to fail?
Recent research shows that, in order not to underestimate the complexity of chemicals present in plastics, which would subvert the treaty’s effectiveness, the treaty needs to address the chemicals in plastics “head-on,” Antonia Praetorius, assistant professor at the University of Amsterdam, tells PackagingInsights.

“The upcoming negotiations are a unique opportunity to design effective strategies for coordinating a global transition toward simpler and safer plastic formulations in terms of chemical diversity.”

Zhanyun Wang, scientist at Empa Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology, adds: “Additionally, proposed solutions need to be assessed holistically for their compatibility with the chemical makeup of the plastics in use.”

“Chemical simplification needs to be an integral part of the way forward. It is not only important to consider the technological solutions, but also take the social, economic and political dynamics into account to design the right incentives to foster the mindset change, leading to real changes and solutions in practice,” asserts Wang. 

The researchers make concrete, actionable recommendations on how the treaty can include mechanisms to reduce the diversity and complexity of chemicals in plastic production. This will not only allow for phasing-out hazardous chemicals from plastic production but also enable the societal transition to a circular plastic economy.Governments should protect the rights of communities around the globe that are harmed by plastic pollution, says Human Rights Watch.

The three actionable recommendations are reducing chemical complexity, increased transparency of information regarding chemicals in plastics and incentives for the transition (to simpler plastic formulations).

Mitigate harmful effects 
Ahead of the negotiations, Human Rights Watch released a question-and-answer document about the impacts of plastic production, use and disposal on human rights.

International human rights law obligates governments to address the harms and to respect, protect while fulfilling the rights to health, water, access to information and a healthy environment.

“The global plastics treaty is an important opportunity to address the environmental and human costs of plastics,” says Katharina Rall, senior environment researcher at Human Rights Watch. 

“Governments should seize this chance to protect the rights of communities around the globe that are harmed by plastic pollution.”

By Natalie Schwertheim