“Voluntary agreements not enough”: Ellen MacArthur Foundation calls for legally binding UN treaty on plastic pollution

02 Sep 2021 --- The Ellen MacArthur Foundation has released a white paper detailing its position on establishing a UN treaty to address global plastic pollution and transition to a circular economy for plastics.

The foundation is calling on all governments, industry and civil society to work together toward a common understanding of how a UN treaty on plastic pollution should be built and establish an international negotiating committee at UN Environmental Assembly (UNEA) 5.2 in February 2022.

Speaking to PackagingInsights, Carsten Wachholz, senior policy manager at the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, explains the paper is intended to create unified objectives on which to base a global treaty. 

“There is now a wide acknowledgement of the most relevant sources of plastic leakage into the environment, its impacts on land-based, marine and freshwater ecosystems, and the associated social and economic costs,” he says. 

“Nonetheless, some governments are hesitant to set up a resource-intensive international negotiation process. The main reason for this is the differing starting positions countries have to tackle the challenges of combating plastic pollution.”

Global strategies 
The paper is a call to action around three central strategies in tackling plastic waste: 

• Eliminate all problematic and unnecessary plastic items worldwide. 
• Innovate to ensure the plastics we do need are reusable, recyclable or compostable.
• Circulate all plastics items we use to keep them in the economy and out of the environment. 

These strategies, the paper argues, must be consolidated into a harmonized policy agreement, which would thereby stimulate product innovations, enhance investment and planning and coordinate infrastructure development. 

State of the union 
The paper’s release comes at the heels of a number of successful efforts by the foundation to unify industry around the idea of driving global policy change. 

The paper calls for a negotiating committee to convene on the treay in February 2022.Through initiatives like the Ellen MacArthur Foundation and UNEP’s Global Commitment and the Plastics Pact Network, over 1,000 organizations take “significant steps” toward a circular economy for plastic. 

A report published in collaboration with Boston Consulting Group and the World Wildlife Foundation titled The Business Case for a UN Treaty on Plastic Pollution spotlighted how companies face increased reputational risks as more consumers demand effective responses from businesses across the plastic value chain.

These pressures led to major companies like Amcor and Nestlé joining the call for a global treaty.

Governments “shy away” from legally binding commitments
On top of industry support, a majority of UN member states have officially declared they are open to considering a new global agreement. 

As of August 2021, more than 100 national governments took an explicit decision to support establishing an international negotiating committee at UNEA 5.2 in February 2022.

“Despite this, they shy away from taking legally binding obligations unless they have enough reassurance from the international community that they will also provide the means for implementing those under a new treaty,” explains Wachholz. 

“We will need firm commitment to support parties that need assistance to implement their national action plans and other obligations. This would include technical support, financial mechanisms to mobilize public and private capital, and an innovation platform to share and scale latest knowledge and solutions.” Plastic needs to be tackled for its polluting impact throughout the life cycle, asserts the Ellen MacArthur Foundation.

Industry’s interference  
However, Wachholz emphasizes many industry players have also worked to obscure what the Ellen MacArthur Foundation views as the real issue with plastic pollution. 

“Some chemicals and plastics manufacturer associations, although formally in support of the development of a global agreement on plastics, want to shift the regulatory focus toward the end-of-life, based on the idea that plastic is not a problem until it becomes waste and enters the environment,” he comments. 

“Such a limited approach would miss the unique opportunities of a treaty that includes both upstream and downstream measures to tackle the impacts of ever-increasing rates of virgin plastics production and linear product and packaging design.” 

Time running out 
Despite such progress, these efforts are not enough, says the Ellen MacArthur Foundation. 

“Plastic pollution is rapidly outpacing current efforts to stop it. Without additional measures, the volume of plastic on the market will double. The annual volume of plastic entering the ocean will triple, and ocean plastic stocks will quadruple within the next 20 years. The costs of inaction increase year-by-year if we fail to work toward a global solution,” reads the report. 

A UN treaty on plastic pollution is crucial to creating a circular economy for plastic, and now even financial institutions are urging governments to establish an international agreement, according to Andrew Morlet, CEO of Ellen MacArthur Foundation. 

“A legally binding, global agreement will foster investment in infrastructure and circular economy solutions and help mitigate investment and financial risks associated with plastic pollution, including its role in climate change and biodiversity loss,” Morlet concludes.

By Louis Gore-Langton