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UN Treaty Poised to Usher in a New Era for Plastics & Packaging
Five critical areas to consider for regulatory preparedness and to capitalize on new opportunities as the UN Plastics Treaty approaches its 2025 ratification vote.
Natasha Pergl
November 7, 2024
4 Min Read
Bob Krist / The Image Bank
At a Glance
- This month, negotiators from 200-plus countries will finalize a legally binding global UN Plastics Treaty.
- The treaty could create unprecedented opportunities and inroads for new business models, markets, and customers.
- Read about five critical areas for packaging and consumer goods firms and follow the links for further research.
This November, negotiators from more than 200 countries are due to convene in Busan, South Korea, to finalize a legally binding global agreement to end plastic pollution. While exact details of the United Nations Global Plastics Treaty are subject to ongoing negotiations and a ratification vote in early 2025, what has become clear throughout the process is that, once implemented, the agreement will fundamentally change how packaging manufacturers operate, putting them on notice that it’s time to embrace a more sustainable, circular business approach.
The UN treaty is among a wave of new policies that take aim at the world’s persistent plastic pollution problem. Of the seven billion tons of plastic waste generated globally to this point, less than 10% has been recycled, according to the UN. Meanwhile, the amount of plastic waste entering aquatic ecosystems could nearly triple by 2040 unless strong measures are taken to change how we produce, use, and dispose of plastic.
The UN Plastics Treaty could well be the catalyst for reversing these troubling trends. As currently drafted, it is likely to prompt countries around the world to enact new policies to curb plastic production, eliminate problematic plastic products and certain chemicals used to produce them, improve product design, and increase manufacturer responsibility for managing pollution and waste.
Read between the lines of the draft treaty and what emerges is an unprecedented opportunity for packaging companies. By shifting away from the linear, take-make-dispose approach to packaging and plastics, toward a more circular and sustainable way of designing products, they’ll create inroads for new business models, new markets, and new customers. That’s exactly the motivation for stakeholder groups like the Business Coalition for a Global Plastics Treaty, a powerful industry group that is pushing for ratification of the treaty, supported by businesses from across the plastics value chain, among them some of the world’s most recognizable consumer products and packaging brands.
5 critical considerations for packaging and consumer goods.
For packaging companies, the plastics industry and, indeed, the world, a pivotal moment is at hand. Here are five critical areas on which packaging and consumer goods companies would be wise to focus to operationalize the coming wave of new regulations and capitalize on a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to unleash the power of business to tackle the plastic pollution crisis:
Designing for reuse, recycling, and circularity. This is about designing packaging with sustainability and circularity in mind from the outset. The Consumer Goods Forum's Plastic Waste Coalition has developed (and its members have committed to follow) nine plastic packaging design “golden rules” that provide guidelines for companies to curb plastic use, create better plastic, and improve recycling systems.
Fulfilling EPR responsibilities and requirements. Extended producer responsibility (EPR) laws are spreading globally. In the US, four states have policies on the books and another 11 are poised to join them according to the National Caucus of Environmental Legislators. The UN Plastics Treaty likely would hasten the spread of EPR requirements, increasing the pressure on packaging companies to track requirements by jurisdiction so they meet compliance responsibilities in the markets in which they are active, and to gather and report data related to their packaging products to fulfill EPR requirements.
Managing and ultimately eliminating use of “chemicals of concern. ” One emerging priority in negotiations surrounding the UN treaty is eliminating toxic chemicals that are known to impact human health or that don’t break down in the environment. The onus will be on packaging companies to ensure these chemicals are kept out of their products.
Transparency, accuracy, and reportability of data, not just within company walls but across the packaging supply chain. One thing is certain about the UN Plastics Treaty: complying with it is going to require collaboration and interconnectedness among companies in the packaging and plastics value chain, so they can readily exchange data and insight, not just for regulatory reporting on material flows, product content, etc., but also to explore collaborative opportunities, share costs and spread risk in areas like compliance, new circular business models and the like.
Traceability of materials and product content. Business networks and data ecosystems provide a solid framework for individual companies and entire supply chains to track, trace, analyze, and report on the origin of the materials they use and the products they make. Unilever, for example, is using a blockchain solution to increase traceability and transparency in its palm oil supply chain.
For the UN Plastics Treaty to work as intended and unlock the huge potential of the circular, sustainable model for packaging and plastics, the investments companies make in these five areas must be supported by globally harmonized structures and standards. That includes developing common definitions for plastics and packaging to ensure mutual understanding and interoperability. It also includes harmonizing criteria for product design, ERP schemes, and recyclability, as well as harmonizing national disclosure schemes.
With these foundational elements to provide stability, coherence, and consistency — and a soon-to-be-ratified global treaty as the catalyst —businesses across the plastics value chain, including packaging companies, can focus on leading the world into a new circular, sustainable era, free of plastics pollution.
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