This week, the UK Government (28 November 2022) is attending the
first Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC) meeting in
Uruguay to kickstart negotiations on the new, landmark legally
binding treaty that aims to end plastic pollution by 2040.
The first meeting will allow the UK, alongside other United
Nations member countries, to assert their initial negotiating
position, set the direction of discussions and reinforce the
treaty’s overarching objective: to bring an end to plastic
pollution globally.
Plastic pollution is one of the greatest environmental threats
that we currently face. Current commitments around the world will
only reduce the annual discharge of plastic into the ocean by 7%
by 2040 according to the Breaking
the Plastic Wave report published by the Pew Charitable
Trusts. The new treaty would set obligations on countries to
reduce pollution across the whole plastics lifecycle, reducing
consumption of plastic, re-using plastic products and improving
waste management systems.
Environment Secretary Thérèse Coffey said:
The images of marine life trapped in plastic waste remind us why
global cooperation to end plastic pollution is so important.
The UK is leading the way with action to cut waste domestically
and this week we will join other high ambition countries in
Uruguay to help set the foundations of an ambitious treaty to end
plastic pollution by 2040.
The UK continues to be at the forefront of tackling global
plastic pollution, co-sponsoring the proposal
to prepare the new treaty at the UK Environment Assembly
in February 2022; leading on a series of dialogue
meetings to help inform the UK’s negotiating position
for an impactful treaty; and being a founding member of the High
Ambition Coalition to End Plastic Pollution, a group of more than
40 countries calling for a target under the treaty to stop
plastic from flowing into our lands and ocean by 2040.
The UK has also taken action at home by banning microbeads in
rinse-off personal care products and restricting the supply of
plastic straws, plastic drink stirrers and plastic-stemmed cotton
buds. Our carrier bag charge has reduced the use of single-use
carrier bags in the main supermarkets by over 97%.
The introduction of extended producer responsibility for
packaging will ensure producers cover the costs of collecting and
managing plastic waste, and our plastic packaging tax will
incentivise businesses to use recycled plastic in the manufacture
of plastic packaging.
United Nations member states have agreed to a schedule of five
INC meetings with hopes to finalise the treaty by the end of
2024.
