The UN Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee Treaty (INC-5) negotiations in Busan, South Korea (2nd December 2024), aimed to reach a binding global treaty to combat plastic pollution. This would have included measures to cap plastic production, ban single-use plastics, and provide financial support to help less developed regions implement the policy, observes GlobalData a leading data and analytics company.
While the talks, the last in a round of five, were expected to end in the Treaty’s signature at Busan, a final agreement was delayed until this year due to fossil fuel producing nations such as Saudi Arabia and heavy plastic material producers such as China failing to agree on several treaty amendments.
This raises the prospect of stricter sustainability measures to reduce global plastic waste, which is on track to triple by 2060, with around half ending up in landfill and less than a fifth being recycled, according to OECD forecasts.
Jamie Cosaitis, Packaging Consumer Insights Consultant and Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “Unlike other UN treaties, the UN INC-5 Plastic Pollution Treaty is set to be legally binding and consequently one of the most influential sustainability agreements in recent years. The Treaty's implementation of caps and bans on virgin and single-use plastics is set to reduce the overall volume of plastic entering the market and force companies to adhere to mandatory design amendments, which should accelerate innovation.”
Establishing a “legally binding treaty” is supported by the CEOs of more than 20 consumer goods companies including Nestlé, PepsiCo and Danone who have signed an open letter organized by the Business Coalition for a Global Plastics Treaty, supporting the development of a legally binding UN treaty to end plastic pollution.
Consumer demand for sustainable packaging supports Treaty agreement
According to GlobalData’s consumer survey Q3 2024, 47% of consumers say that "ethical and environmentally friendly services" impact their purchasing decisions "always" or "often", while 73% of respondents claim that "recyclable packaging" is an "essential" or "nice to have" factor in their purchasing decisions.