Information brief

IUCN WCEL Briefing 6 of 6 for Plastics Treaty INC-2 Circular Economy and Plastic Life-Cycle Issues

The Plastic Pollution Treaty’s scope, as articulated by United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA) resolution 5/14, includes the circular economy and elements of the plastic life-cycle as vital elements for addressing plastic pollution and production.

The fundamental connections between the circular economy, plastic life-cycle and global efforts to address plastic pollution were affirmed by States and stakeholders throughout the INC-1 discussions. To address these issues, the Plastic Pollution Treaty should consider the value of explicit and implicit inclusion of circular economy provisions so as to address the potential for technological growth and change. The plastic life-cycle should be understood as multi-phased, with each phase requiring inclusion in the Plastic Pollution Treaty as well as the national action plans and other potential oversight and compliance mechanisms. It is critical that the Plastic Pollution Treaty include methods for national oversight of efforts to address plastic pollution throughout all phases of the plastic life-cycle. This is briefing 6 of 6 for INC-2.

For all six briefings for INC-2 in one document, they may be found here.

For the previous five Briefings for INC-1, they can be found in the WCEL resources here as well as in the Plastic and Other Pollution topic page here.