U.S. Supports Caps on Plastic Production

Abstract

The United States, one of the world's largest plastic producers, announced support for a global plastics treaty to reduce virgin plastic production. This represents a major policy shift away from earlier calls by the United States and other major plastic producers like Saudia Arabia to allow countries to make their own non-legally binding voluntary decisions to reduce production. This policy shift now closely aligns the United States with high ambition countries that now could salvage difficult negotiations and help re-establish an effective global plastics treaty to end plastic pollution. High ambition countries like EU member states, Canada, Rwanda and Peru have called for a global plastics treaty to cap and phase down the production of primary plastic polymers. Many of these high ambition countries have launched the Bridge to Busan in an effort to include plastic production targets in the treaty text at the next round of negotiations in Busan. Currently, 36 countries are signatories. The United States should now sign on to the Bridge to Busan and commit to an ambitious reduction of primary plastic polymer production for an effective global plastics treaty to end plastic pollution.

Keywords: Global Plastics Treaty, Plastic Pollution, United Nations, Plastic Production