UN INC-2: Ecoveritas urges policymakers to implement “polluter pays” EPR in global plastics treaty

01 Jun 2023 --- Ecoveritas is calling on the world leaders gathered in Paris, France, at the UN’s ongoing second International Negotiating Committee (INC-2) meeting to count extended producer responsibility (EPR) among the essential provisions of the plastic pollution treaty. 

PackagingInsights speaks to Andrew McCaffery, chief strategy officer at the environmental data specialist, about why the global packaging industry should be implementing EPR in business practices already. 

Why is it essential to discuss EPR at the INC-2? 
McCaffery: We’re on the ropes. Recycling infrastructure is currently unable to cope. Europeans produce an average of 35 kg of plastic packaging waste yearly. Consumer packaging should be a focus area for the treaty due to the widespread volumes of low-value, lightweight and disposable items contributing to pollution risk. Prioritizing plastic packaging, which creates around 40% of total plastic waste, is common sense. If we do nothing, plastic waste will triple by 2060.

If we implement plastic packaging circularity, the incremental value would be immense. We would be better equipped to retain the value of a vital resource and keep it from leaking into the environment by keeping it in a circular loop.

Ecoveritas’ chief strategy officer is confident that EPR will increase recycling and decrease plastic pollution. Firstly, we need to adopt a comprehensive life cycle assessment approach to materials. Then we need the consistent application of the “polluter pays” principle combined with EPR – we need to ensure a level playing field for all players within the value chain. All of this will give us the much-needed resources to strengthen waste collection and processing and provide increased confidence in investment in recycling infrastructure.

We must look at EPR not as a tax but as a responsibility to deliver on an agreed circular performance. There is an opportunity to influence and reduce costs through good performance. With EPR, it is fair to say that fragmented national approaches are hurting progress globally. Shared guidelines and minimum standards for EPR are necessary to define the desirable minimum operating standards of EPR schemes. There are also different approaches to collection, sorting and disposal – while some countries do nothing. Where reduction and prevention are not possible, developing a well-designed EPR is proven to help the circulation of all plastic items that cannot be eliminated, keeping them in the economy at their highest value.

What do you expect the INC-2 negotiations to achieve? 
McCaffery: Current commitments will only reduce plastic pollution by 8% by 2040. While few global environmental issues have been adequately addressed without a legally binding international treaty, it is not uncommon to see global pacts fall by the wayside.

Despite that note of caution, the goal is clear: to ensure the circularity of plastics in the economy. We’d hope to see objectives, scope and means of implementation. We need an ambitious treaty that brings plastic into a circular economy and stops it from becoming waste or pollutants.

I hope for a treaty that includes measures to harmonize reuse design standards, definitions, system infrastructure and actions to make the economics work will level the playing field and end an unhealthy dependency that threatens human and environmental health. 

How will the INC-2 discussions impact the packaging industry?
Ecoveritas wants policymakers to emphasize EPR in global plastics treaty negotiations.McCaffery: Change has been on the cards for some time in the packaging industry, and after all the talk, it’s fast becoming a reality. EPR alters the landscape, and packaging professionals must readjust to meet it. Across the board, businesses are facing unprecedented upheaval, prompting some to make changes in preparation for EPR. However, some smaller companies may not understand what is coming.

From what we’ve often seen, the level of innovation and the pace of change from packaging manufacturers is impressive, but treading lightly on the planet is complex and data-intensive work. Many packaging manufacturers will have put a lot of thought into designing something that will hit EPR requirements, particularly where different players in the packaging chain have different responsibilities. Any further fine-tuning must ensure EPR rewards people for doing the right thing instead of penalizing them.

From 2024, introducing EPR schemes for packaging will likely become mandatory across the EU. The requirement of the European Green Deal is part of a package of measures that will also set targets for the amount of recycled content new packaging will contain.

How should businesses prepare for the incoming global plastics treaty?
McCaffery: EPR represents a viable way of making the recycling loop less open and more closed. EPR is like a compass pointing to a more sustainable way, a much-needed foothold on our climb out of the waste crisis. 

Successful implementation of data solutions to tackle climate change will be determined by how well organizations can collect, analyze, manage and promptly act upon their data. These new challenges will require the use of brand-new data sets which have never been analyzed in this way or collected for this use. It is a tough ask for many, but the tools exist to accomplish it. Businesses must prepare for a landscape proactively dealing with climate change.

McCaffery warns that current recycling infrastructure is insufficient and requires urgent investment.The most successful companies will use data to connect their various siloes to create fluid, interconnected data streams that can be picked apart at a micro or macro level to identify new efficiencies. Compliance will become a floor, not a ceiling – embracing data will help businesses identify where their supply chains are stretched or where unnecessary waste exists. It will unlock new opportunities for suppliers, converters and manufacturers to harmonize processes and open new avenues for differentiation. At a time when sustainability is essential and the market is fraught with reputational risk, data collection and analysis tools put the power to manage that risk in businesses’ hands

How can countries work together to address the global plastic pollution crisis?
McCaffery: Packaging waste is a historical problem that isn’t going away. Food packaging from 40 years ago regularly washes up on beaches, yet it doesn’t seem to bring about anything near the required step change in thinking. We have shown the differences and highlighted the delusion of some, but confident changemakers are too few and far between.

A move toward global metrics and standards, so we can create a collective understanding of what we’re all trying to do would be game-changing. Working closely with all value players, the government, private sectors, and NGOs will send a strong signal regarding private sector investment and research.

EPR will help create a business case for upscaling waste collection and recycling or other solutions. If finance continues to flow from government to unsustainable practices and the private sector is expected to finance the solutions where there is no sufficient business case, then it is problematic. A clear policy will be a crucial driver in channeling the flow of this investment.

We’re far too quick to forget that humans are successful because we have adapted to an environment we understand only imperfectly. We mustn’t lose sight of the fact we can only “kick the can down the road” so many times.

By Sabine Waldeck