August 13, 2025
The Chair’s latest draft text does not include the global obligations nor the certainty that business needs to unlock investment and scale solutions to tackle plastic pollution. As it stands, this text could lead to continued pollution, cost and fragmented regulation driving increased complexity for business. Voluntary and fragmented action is not enough. We reiterate our call for a treaty with harmonised regulation, including on phase-outs, product design and extended producer responsibility (EPR), and a mechanism to strengthen action over time.
We urge governments to land an effective agreement with global harmonised regulation by the end of INC-5.2 in Geneva.
About the Business Coalition for a Global Plastics Treaty
The Business Coalition for a Global Plastics Treaty – convened by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation and WWF in September 2022 – gives voice to more than 300 businesses from across the plastics value chain, financial institutions and NGO partners. Together we are asking for an ambitious UN treaty that brings plastics into a circular economy, stopping them becoming waste or pollution.
Chemicals and polymers of concern
Problematic and avoidable plastic products
Reduce, Reuse, Refill and repair of plastics and plastic products
Product design and performance
Extended Producer Responsibility
Waste management
The draft treaty text includes a (sub-)section related to this focus area, but the proposed provisions do not reflect the Business Coalition’s recommendations.
The draft treaty text proposes provisions that are at least partly aligned with the Business Coalition recommendations, but some major changes still need to be incorporated and/ or it lacks the necessary references to develop technical specifications to make them meaningful, operational and enforceable.
The draft treaty text proposes provisions that are mostly aligned to the Business Coalition’s recommendations, and it references the need to develop technical specifications to ensure harmonised implementation.
The draft treaty text proposes provisions that are aligned to the Business Coalition’s recommendations, and it requires technical specifications to be adopted by the INC or the future governing body to help governments to implement harmonised and effective regulations.
The draft treaty text contains both the legal provisions and the technical specifications needed to help governments to implement harmonised and effective regulations in line with the Business Coalition’s recommendations.