Ahead of the final scheduled round of negotiations on an international treaty to end plastics pollution, the World Plastics Council (WPC) and members of the Global Plastics Alliance (GPA) are calling on national governments to agree to an ambitious and implementable agreement that considerably scales up waste management and recycling.

At the fifth session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC5), due to start in Busan, South Korea, on November 25, negotiators from various governments will need to reach agreement on a number of important topics including the model by which the internationally legally binding instrument (ILBI) will enable countries to tackle plastics waste.

In this context, the WPC and GPA are calling for negotiators to reach an agreement that considers the needs of different countries while establishing a common framework to end plastic pollution by 2040.

The organisations are seeking a final agreement that balances global obligations and national measures.

They have said that it should require countries to develop national action plans so they can deploy tailored solutions most effective for their circumstances.

Mandatory recycled content targets for sectors that use plastics at the national level, for example, will increase the value of plastic waste as a circular feedstock by increasing demand for circular plastic raw materials, they posit.

The organisations indicate that those plans should have common elements and reporting requirements that hold countries accountable for tracking progress and creating the demand signals to spur investment in collection, sorting and recycling.

The organisations have also recommended that the treaty should include sustainable finance mechanisms; have an application-based approach; facilitate trade of plastic waste; include re-designing plastics; and recognise the importance of the informal sector.

“Countries face very different challenges and require different solutions. A one-size-fits-all global approach to policy and regulation cannot work. The treaty should therefore provide each country and region with the flexibility to meet the objectives of the agreement in ways which make most sense for them,” WPC chair Benny Mermans says.

“Building circularity into the entire lifecycle of plastics – from design to recycling to responsible end-of-life – and developing fit-for-purpose waste management system should be the cornerstone of the agreement.

“The most effective way to achieve the objectives of the agreement, while maintaining the utility that plastics offer society, is to make plastic waste a commodity with real value,” says Plastics SA representative at the GPA Anton Hanekom.