Ahead of the Plastics Treaty INC-5, the INC Chair released a non-paper outlining a potential basis for negotiations. Unfortunately, the Chair’s non-paper resulted from a flawed process that allowed Member States to reopen discussions on the Treaty’s provisions behind closed doors and with no accountability. As a result, the non-paper is a document without ambition and would lead to an instrument that would have very little impact on addressing the adverse effects of plastics.

If the INC decides to move into negotiations with the non-paper as a basis, it is crucial that several improvements are made and that critical gaps are addressed. For example:

• The non-paper focuses on voluntary, national actions instead of legally binding global controls, with statements such as “Each Party is encouraged to take measures….” We are facing a global plastics crisis with global plastic flows, so the solutions must be global. An approach based on national rules would make the Treaty largely ineffective. Global measures would instead create a level playing field for all countries and economic actors.
• There is no text suggested for the article on supply/production. Since overproduction is at the root of the crisis, the negotiations need to ensure that meaningful global mechanisms exist to reduce plastic production.
• The non-paper eliminated two critical articles: “chemicals and polymers of concern” and “transparency and tracking,” even though both were strongly supported throughout the negotiations. Chemicals must be addressed in a separate article addressing the entire life cycle. The approach in the non-paper of including chemicals only “as used in plastic products” would:
  • not provide sufficient protection for human health and the environment.
  • disregard the life-cycle approach.
  • be difficult, if not impossible, to implement for two reasons: one, due to the complex value chain of plastics, and two, it would shift the responsibility from the plastic manufacturer to the product manufacturers, who do not have information on chemical composition.
  • exclude chemicals generated at the end-of-life of plastics.

Download the full brief below with our notes on selected provisions under the Chair’s non-paper and what needs to be included if member states decide to use the non-paper as a basis for negotiations at INC-5.

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