TCoPS - 31

Kwa Zulu, South Africa © shutterstock / DigArt
Plastics Pact, a national Plastics
Pact which is part of the international
Plastics Pact network under the Ellen
MacArthur Foundation. This voluntary
agreement with time bound targets
is an independent pre-competitive
platform made up of industry members
from resin producers to the informal
waste sector and is supported by
various NGOs, including WWF South
Africa and the IUCN.
How a treaty can help:
While these measures are
heading in the right direction, a
global treaty could provide the
global coordination, access to
research, and financial support
required to increase effectiveness
of South Africa's plastic action.
The treaty could provide the financial
support needed for South Africa to
undertake required expansions in
their waste management system to
improve plastic collection rates and
reduce leakage. Agreed standards
and methodologies for reporting and
monitoring will also provide incentives
for stakeholders in collection and
recycling to maintain established
collection and recycling rates and
allow them to be held accountable.
Through reporting mechanisms, the
treaty can help establish a baseline of
the current plastic landscape in South
Africa to assess where interventions
are needed and measure progress to
that end. With global coordination, the
treaty will increase the effectiveness
of regulations such as banning singleuse
plastic by limiting the opportunity
for illegal imports of non-compliant
plastic. Therefore, a global treaty could
increase the effectiveness of South
Africa's efforts to tackle the plastic
crisis, which could reduce the damage
to South Africa's economy and risks to
human health.
South Africa would also be
joining many African countries
in supporting the treaty, with
government commitment likely
to be met with strong public
support. Fifty four member states
endorsed a declaration calling for
global action on plastic pollution at the
African Ministerial Conference on the
Environment (AMCEN) in November
2019.206
A suggestion was also made
for a new global agreement to combat
plastic pollution to be explored
further.207
Within South Africa, there
is support among the public for action
on plastics with more than 2,000
members of the public emphasising
their concern through a petition.208
Two major South African retailers -
Woolworths Holdings Ltd. and Pick 'n
Pay - have also expressed their support
for a global treaty.209
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TCoPS

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