Sustainable Plastics - March/April 2022 - 7

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Historic day in the fight against plastic pollution
THE UNITED NATIONS Environmental
Assembly, the UN's
top environmental body, agreed
March 2 to move forward on a
global plastics pollution treaty,
setting in motion talks that
could have a major impact on
how plastics are regulated and
used around the world.
It is the first time that UNEA
has adopted a negotiation
mandate for a new legally binding
multilateral environmental
agreement.
The resolution addresses the
full life cycle of plastic, including
its production, design and disposal
and includes explicit references
to the circular economy,
full life cycle and sustainable
production and consumption. It
underlines the importance of
promoting a circular design of
products and materials so that
they can be reused, remanufactured
or recycled and therefore
retained in the economy for as
long as possible along with the
resources they are made of, as
well as minimising the generation
of waste. It also encourages
action by all stakeholders,
including the private sector,
and calls upon all UN member
states to continue and step up
their activities, whilst also recognising
the significant contribution
made by workers under
informal and cooperative settings
to collecting, sorting and
recycling plastics in many countries.
It promotes cooperation
at the global, regional, national
and local levels, recognising
UNEA President brings
down the gavel on the
resolution. UNEP photo
the need to strengthen global
coordination and governance to
take immediate actions.
The resolution is based on
three initial draft resolutions
from various nations and establishes
an Intergovernmental
Negotiating Committee (INC),
which will begin its work in
2022, with the ambition of completing
a draft global legally
binding agreement by the end
of 2024.
It is expected to present a
legally binding instrument,
which would reflect diverse
alternatives to address the full
life cycle of plastics, the design
of reusable and recyclable
products and materials, and
the need for enhanced international
collaboration to facilitate
access to technology, capacity
building and scientific and
technical cooperation.
The UN Environment Programme
(UNEP) will convene a
forum by the end of 2022 that is
open to all stakeholders in conjunction
with the first session
of the INC, to share knowledge
and best practices in diff erent
parts of the world. It will facilitate
open discussions and
ensure they are informed by
science, reporting on progress
throughout the next two years.
Finally, upon completion of the
INC's work, UNEP will convene
a diplomatic conference to
adopt its outcome and open it
for signatures.
" This is the most significant
environmental multilateral
deal since the Paris accord. It
is an insurance policy for this
generation and future ones,
so they may live with plastic
and not be doomed by it, " said
Inger Andersen, Executive Director
of UNEP.
" Let it be clear that the INC's
mandate does not grant any
stakeholder a two-year pause.
In parallel to negotiations over
an international binding agreement,
UNEP will work with any
willing government and business
across the value chain
to shift away from single-use
plastics, as well as to mobilise
private finance and remove
barriers to investments in research
and in a new circular
economy, " he stressed.
The UNEA 5.2 resolution
represents a historic moment
but is just the beginning. There
are key priorities the negotiation
process must address,
taking advantage of this landmark
decision to put in place
a treaty that can have real and
ambitious impact towards a
circular economy for plastics.
Switzerland bans use of oxo-degradable plastics
THE USE of oxo-degradable
plastics was banned in the
European Union under directive
2019/9044, which came
into force on 3 July 2019. Now,
Switzerland is following suit.
In 2019, Isabelle Chevalley, a
Green Liberal Party member
formerly of the National Council
for the Canton of Vaud,
submitted a motion for a ban
on oxo-degradable plastics
as soon as possible. The motion
was adopted by the Swiss
parliament and as a result, the
country is banning the use of
oxo-degradable plastics on 1
April 2022.
Oxo-degradable plastics
(ODP) are plastics containing
pro-oxidant additives that allegedly
promote fragmentation
and subsequent biodegradation.
However, in practice,
ODP do not fully biodegrade
under environmental or industrial
composting conditions,
and thus may serve as a
source of microplastics in the
environment.
Current scientific evidence does not support the claim that oxo-degradable
plastics degrade in the environment.
March/April 2022
7
Sustainable Plastics - March/April 2022

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