August 8, 2025
At the midpoint of INC-5.2, negotiations are running out of time, with no clear path to an agreement. The current approach is not delivering the progress we need to reach a meaningful outcome by the end of next week.
Governments committed to leaving Geneva with a strong treaty must act decisively. They must leverage all means available and support the INC Chair to establish an effective process. The time for incremental steps has passed.
Governments must be bold, guided by the clear ask from the majority of countries, businesses, and civil society to deliver a robust agreement with harmonised regulations across the full lifecycle to address plastic pollution. The Business Coalition stands ready to support negotiators in achieving this outcome.
“Plastic pollution is a global challenge, and global regulation is needed to effectively alleviate the situation. Harmonised regulations drive consistency across borders while supporting national ambitions and provide the lowest cost option to effectively address plastic pollution.” – Tove Andersen, CEO at TOMRA and Spokesperson for a Business Coalition for Global Plastics Treaty
“At Borealis, we’ve long championed circularity. Through innovation and partnerships we’ve shown that sustainable plastics solutions are possible. However, to scale these solutions globally, we need a level playing field.” – Stefan Doboczky, CEO at Borealis
“We’re at a unique moment in time where business, civil society, and a majority of countries are calling for harmonised regulation on plastic pollution. The time to act is now.” – Jodie Roussell, Global Public Affairs Lead, Packaging and Sustainability at Nestlé and Spokesperson for a Business Coalition for Global Plastics Treaty
“Our economic analysis suggests that harmonised regulations could more than double global extended producer responsibility revenues to USD 576 billion, driving a scale up of collection and recycling.” – Sabine Strnad, Global Lead Circular Economy and Packaging at Henkel and Spokesperson for a Business Coalition for Global Plastics Treaty
"We want to scale solutions that tackle plastic pollution, and a treaty with harmonised regulations will make this easier for businesses to do." – Ed Shepherd, Senior Global Sustainability Manager - Circular Economy at Unilever and Spokesperson for a Business Coalition for Global Plastics Treaty
“Our economic analysis shows that harmonised regulations can drive stable job creation, with 2.3 million more jobs being created, particularly in waste management.” – Ali Golden, Director of Strategic Relationships at TerraCycle and Spokesperson for a Business Coalition for Global Plastics Treaty
“Our economic analysis shows that harmonised regulations on product design alone can create USD 50 billion per year in additional economic value for materials in the plastics recycling value chain.” – Rob Opsomer, Executive Lead Plastics & Finance, The Ellen MacArthur Foundation
"Business supports a treaty with harmonised regulations because it drives regulatory consistency across borders while supporting national ambitions." – Conrick Gallagher III, VP of Partnerships at Okeanos
About the Business Coalition
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.