The negotiations were set up in an attempt to create a legally-binding worldwide treaty to eliminate plastic pollution by 2040.
Greenpeace said that the conclusion of the most recent round of negotiations in April 2024 was “marked by disappointment” and that attendees “succumbed to the influence” of the fossil fuel and petrochemical industry.
This week’s roundtable – chaired by secretary of state Steve Reed and the Ellen MacArthur Foundation – brought together businesses from across the plastic value chain.
Defra said that the session considered key elements that need to be included in the treaty text, including a focus on the entire plastics value chain.
Businesses which attended the roundtable have signed an accompanying statement calling for “an ambitious and effective” treaty.
Current signatories include:
- Circulate Capital
- Danone
- Fidelity International
- ING
- Legal and General Investment Management
- Mars
- Nestlé
- SC Johnson
- Tesco
- Unilever
- Waitrose
The statement is open for other private sector organisations to sign and non-private sector organisations to endorse from 6 November 2024 until the start of INC-5 on 25 November 2024. Defra has asked interested organisations to contact them at marinelitter@defra.gov.uk.
INC-5 a ‘crucial step’ to Global Plastics Treaty
Harriet Lamb, CEO of NGO WRAP who attended the conference and have endorsed the statement, commented: “We are addicted to plastics. Our passion for plastics exploded with its invention and has been fuelled for decades – without control – by the unique qualities and endless possibilities of this remarkable material. Nowhere more so than in packaging.
“Today, the world produces more than 141 million tonnes of plastic packaging every year. Too much ends up in landfills, incinerators or littering the environment. Unless we act, we will be disposing of an estimated 30 million tonnes of plastic into the environment every single year, by 2040.
“And now we are all seeing in full the tragic impacts of our unchecked dependence on this most pervasive pollutant with plastics in the air, water, earth, nature and even our bloodstreams.
“Which is why INC-5 is such a crucial step in developing a Global Treaty to help us kick our plastic habit.
“The treaty must agree high ambition and actionable strategies that businesses and governments will follow – and which can be monitored.”
Lamb’s full statement can be read here.
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