Plastic Production Reduction: The Climate Imperative

 In advance of the fourth round of United Nations negotiations for an international plastics treaty in Ottawa April 23-29, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) has released a groundbreaking study revealing the enormous climate impact of plastic production.

In response to the report, Dr. Neil Tangri, Science and Policy Director at the Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA), Dr. Jorge Emmanuel of Siliman University, Philippines, and  Dr. Sam Adu-Kumi, former Director of the Chemicals Control and Management Centre of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Ghana, have penned a policy brief contextualizing LBNL’s findings within the Paris Climate Agreement and global carbon budget, and how this research strengthens the mandate for a strong plastics treaty that dramatically cuts plastic production.

Key Takeaways:

  • Plastics’ impact on the climate starts with extraction. To fully capture, measure, evaluate and address the impacts of plastic pollution, assessment and regulatory controls must consider the complete lifecycle, beginning with extraction. 
  • Growth in plastic production alone will doom international climate goals. Even if every other source of greenhouse gas emissions – transportation, electricity, agriculture, heavy industry, etc. – were to miraculously and completely decarbonize in 2024, at current growth rates, primary plastic production alone would completely consume the global carbon budget as early as 2060 and no later than 2083. 
  • Deep, rapid cuts in plastic production are required by the Paris Agreement. To avoid breaching the 1.5°C limit set by the Paris Agreement, primary plastic production must decrease by at least 12% to 17% per year, starting in 2024. 
  • Ce que le CIN-4 pourrait accomplir 
  • Règlement intérieur
  • Priorités pour la discussion de l’avant-projet révisé en groupes de contact
  • Un impôt mondial sur les plastiques
  • Responsabilité élargie du producteur
  • Compensation, crédits et neutralité plastiques : déclarations fallacieuses et pratiques polluantes
  • Transition juste
  • Changer les matières ou les systèmes?
  • Le piège de la circularité des plastiques
  • Le traité sur les matières plastiques et la Convention de Bâle
  • Y a-t-il matière à creuser ? Le recyclage chimique à l’aide de la technologie nucléaire
  • Définitions

This booklet serves as a comprehensive guide to the plastics treaty negotiations (INC-4) in Ottawa, complete with primers on:

  • What the INC-4 could achieve
  • The rules of procedure
  • Priorities for zero draft discussion in contact groups
  • A global plastics tax
  • Extended Producer Responsibility
  • plastics offsetting, credits, and neutrality: false claims and polluting practices
  • Just Transition
  • Switching materials or systems?
  • The plastics circularity trap
  • The plastics treaty and the Basel Convention
  • “Is there anything there?” Nuclear-assisted chemical recycling
  • Definitions

This booklet serves as a comprehensive guide, complete with primers on:

  • what the plastics treaty INC-3 could achieve
  • the rules of procedure
  • scope and principles
  • priorities for zero draft discussion in contact groups
  • the plastics circularity trap
  • the plastics treaty and the Basel Convention
  • Definitions

L’avant-projet de traité sur les plastiques est un document équilibré qui inclut l’ensemble des points
de vue exprimés par les gouvernements lors des INC-1 et 2; il fournit donc une excellente base des
négociations de l’INC-3. L’éventail des points de vue comprend des options à la fois faibles et fortes pour
chacune des mesures de contrôle et chacun des moyens de mise en œuvre, depuis la réduction de la
production de plastiques jusqu’au mécanisme de financement.

The plastics treaty zero draft is a balanced document that includes the full range of views expressed by governments during INCs 1 and 2 and should be the basis for negotiations at INC-3. This full range includes both strong and weak options for all control measures and means of implementation, from reducing plastic production to a financing mechanism.

The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) channels $270 billion in tax credits for climate investments but raises concerns about incineration—a false solution to waste disposal that could generate 637.7 million tonnes of CO2e emissions over two decades, further harming the environment and disadvantaged communities. This resource highlights the key points of our recent article, including available funds for EJ organizations.

While recognising and supporting the need to avoid duplication of mandates,institutions and resources between treaties, the new legally binding international instrument to end plastic pollution (“Plastics Treaty” or “the Treaty”) offers an excellent opportunity to highlight and fill gaps that either fall outside the scope of the Basel Convention or that the Basel Convention is not effectively addressing.

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