Plastic Makers Seek Legally Binding Global Agreement Among Nations To Curb Plastic Pollution

On February 11, the governments of the United States and France released a joint statement in support of a global agreement among nations to curb plastic pollution. The following statement may be attributed to Joshua Baca, the American Chemistry Council’s (ACC) vice president of plastics:

America’s plastic makers fully support a resolution at the upcoming UN Environment Assembly (UNEA) to begin negotiations on a legally binding global agreement to curb plastic waste in the environment. We believe such an agreement will accelerate progress towards a circular economy most effectively through binding and non-binding commitments.

The joint statement issued by the United States and France indicates there is significant alignment between what plastic makers and the U.S. and France hope to see come out of the UNEA negotiations. In September, America’s plastic makers released 5 Principles to eliminate plastic waste. The plastics industry is accelerating progress towards circularity through innovation in product design, use of recycled plastics, and technology deployment. A global agreement will help scale solutions by improving the foundation of the circular economy: universal access to waste collection.

Most importantly, plastic waste should never end up in our environment. Plastic makers look forward to working collaboratively with UNEA stakeholders and governments to support the development and implementation of ambitious national plans to eliminate plastic waste, while maintaining the benefits of plastics to society.