In a significant reversal, the Biden administration announced during two closed-door meetings this week that US negotiators would support limits on plastic production as part of the United Nations’ Global Plastics Treaty.
The news was first reported by Reuters and confirmed to Grist by the State Department on Thursday. This represents a major shift for the United States, which has previously rejected production limits in favor of an approach focused on increasing recycling rates and cleaning up plastic debris.
While industry groups condemned the decision as “deceived,” environmental organizations said could swing momentum in favor of production limits at a later point during the negotiations. There is only one meeting left before the treaty is supposed to be finalized in 2025.
“It couldn’t have come at a better time,” said Christina Dixon, ocean campaign leader for the nonprofit Environmental Investigations Agency. “The US position has been one of the great unknowns and they have the power to be a constructive and cooperative player, so it’s a relief to see them step down at this critical moment.”
Negotiations on a treaty have been ongoing since March 2022, when the UN approved a landmark agreement to “end plastic pollution.” In the course of the four negotiate sessions that took place since then, however, progress has been slow — largely due to disagreements over the treaty’s scope.
A so-called “high ambition” coalition of countries, backed by many scientists and environmental groups, says the treaty should prevent more plastic from being made in the first place. Some 460 million metric tons is produced worldwide each year – mostly from fossil fuels – and only 9 percent of that is recycled. Because the production, use and disposal of plastics contributes to climate change, experts at the non-profit Pacific Environment found that the treaty plastic production with 75 percent by 2040 to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit).
The high-ambition coalition also support specific bans or restrictions on the most problematic types of plastics—typically meaning those least likely to be recycled—as well as hazardous chemicals commonly used in plastic products. This coalition includes Canada, Norway, Peru, Rwanda and the United Kingdom, along with more than 60 other countries.
Oil-producing states such as Saudi Arabia, Russia and China – backed by industry groups – oppose these measures. They want the treaty to leave production untouched and focus on managing plastic waste. The USA counted itself among these countries until this week.
Now, in addition to supporting restrictions on plastic production, the US says it will also support the creation of a list of problematic plastics and hazardous chemicals, according to Reuters.
Photo from IISD/ENB
Because the US carries so much weight in the treaty negotiations – and because North America produces one fifth of the world’s plastic – Dixon said the White House’s new position could be “a welcome signal to fence-posting countries,” encouraging them to join the high-ambition coalition.
“I hope this will only isolate the small group of countries that are unwilling to commit to the necessary binding regulations that we need to see on the supply of plastics.”
Industry groups reacted less favorably to the news.
Chris Jahn, president and CEO of the American Chemistry Council, a plastics and petrochemicals trade group, said in a statement that the US “cave[d] to the wishes of extreme NGO groups.” He described the White House’s new position as a betrayal of American manufacturers that would reduce jobs, harm the environment and raise the cost of goods worldwide.
“If the Biden-Harris administration is to achieve its sustainable development and climate goals, the world will have to rely more on plastic, not less,” he said, referring to the material’s utility in renewable energy infrastructure, which makes buildings making it more energy efficient, and reducing food waste.
Almost 40 percent of global plastic production goes to single-use items such as packaging and food service products.
Matt Seaholm, president and CEO of the Plastics Industry Association, shared similar sentiments with Jahn. In a statementhe said the White House had “turned its back on Americans whose livelihoods depend on our industry.”
He added that the U.S. reversal would undermine its influence in the treaty negotiations, “as other countries know, this extreme position will not receive support in the U.S. Senate.” The Senate must approve treaties before the US can ratify them.
Despite the industry’s outrage, opinion polls suggest that ambitious policies to address the plastics crisis are generally popular with the public. According to one recent poll from the nonprofit National Resources Defense Council, nearly 90 percent of Americans support measures to reduce plastic production. Eighty-three percent specifically support plastic production limits as part of an international treaty, and even greater numbers support treaty provisions to eliminate “unnecessary and avoidable plastic products” and toxic chemicals.
Reducing plastic production is “what the American people want,” Anja Brandon, director of U.S. plastics policy for the nonprofit Ocean Conservancy, said in a statement. She cited additional polling from her organization that shows that 78 percent of Americans thinks ocean-bound plastic pollution is an “urgent problem.”
Brandon and other environmental advocates now say they are eager to see how the US’s new position will translate into advocacy during the last round of plastics treaty negotiationsscheduled to begin in late November in Busan, South Korea. They call on the US to join the “Bridge to Busan,” a statement submitted last April by a group of countries asking negotiators to “commit to sustainable production levels of primary plastic polymers,” possibly through “production freezes at specified levels, production reductions against agreed baselines, or other agreed restrictions.”
“I’m cautiously optimistic,” Julie Teel Simmonds, a senior attorney for the nonprofit Center for Biological Diversity, said in a statement. “I look forward to seeing American delegates fight for these positions at the next plastics treaty negotiations in South Korea.”
