Asia's Opportunity to End Single-use Plastic Pollution

Global rules in a new global treaty

Project
Duration: May - Jun 2022

No other plastic usage represents the problem of plastic pollution as much as single-use plastics (SUPs) do. They are the most common type of plastics produced, and, at the same time, the most littered in the environment. SUP consumption is booming worldwide, with Asia being no exception. On the contrary: Asia is experiencing increasing levels of SUP consumption due to rapid economic growth, urbanization, and changing consumption and production patterns including the increase of E-commerce and rising sales of processed and packaged food. Last but not least, a "sachet economy" has been established with small portions of products (e.g., instant coffee, shampoo) being sold for convenience and to target especially the large population groups with lower purchasing power.

Within the project, WWF Philippines has financed the preparation of a report on SUP pollution in Asia. This report identifies the top five problematic SUP items in Asia, outlines policy pathways to tackle the these SUPs, and discusses potential content of the new international legally binding instrument to address the most problematic SUP items.

Single-use plastics are the plastic type most often produced and littered.

Global Rules in a New Global Treaty: Asia's opportunity to end single-use plastic pollution

Year 2022

Funding: World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), Philippines
Partner: Ecologic Institute, Germany
Team: Linda Mederake

Doris Knoblauch
Duration: May - Jun 2022
Project ID: 50094
Keywords: Governance

International Development

Plastics

Resource Conservation + Circular Economy

single-use plastics, plastic pollution, plastic reduction, recycling, waste management, global governance, international agreement

Asia

literature study

Further Links

PublicationReportGlobal Rules in a New Global Treaty: Asia's opportunity to end single-use plastic pollution

Report Cover "Global Rules in a New Global Treaty"

In March 2022, at the resumed fifth meeting of the United Nations Environment Assembly, UN Member States adopted the historic decision to start negotiating a global treaty to combat plastic pollution. As national delegations and relevant stakeholders in Asia start... Read more

Mederake, Linda; Knoblauch, Doris (2022): Global rules in a new global treaty: Asia's opportunity to end single-use plastic pollution. Published in July 2022 by WWF Philippines.

ProjectAdvising the EU's International Outreach on the Content of the Mandate for an International Negotiating Committee for a Potential Global Plastics Agreement

Plastic Litter at Koh Ta Kiev, Cambodia

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At the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA), planned for the end of February 2022, one or more Resolutions will be tabled calling for the creation of an International Negotiating Committee to discuss content of a potential Global Plastics Agreement. Discussions of... Read more

Advising the EU's International Outreach on the Content of the Mandate for an International Negotiating Committee for a Potential Global Plastics Agreement

Duration: Dec 2021 - Jan 2022
Funding: European Commission, Directorate-General for International Cooperation and Development, International

PublicationReportA Global Treaty on Plastic Pollution

Report cover with image of fish, title, and logos of participating institutions

This research report studies the Asian perspectives on a global plastic pollution treaty against the background of a growing momentum for the establishment of a negotiation process during the second part of the fifth session of the UN Environment Assembly (UNEA-5.2) in... Read more

Stockhaus, H; Sachdeva, A; Sina, S; Bolopion, E; Mislang, G; Espenilla, J; Guiao, C.T.; Sulistiawati, L.Y.; Popattanachai, N. 2021. A New Treaty on Plastic Pollution – Perspectives from Asia. Published in October 2021 by WWF-World Wide Fund For Nature (Singapore) Limited (WWF-Singapore).

PublicationPolicy BriefA Treaty on Plastic Waste

The discussion paper presents the rationale for a new treaty on tackling plastic waste and highlights its possible added value. The objective would be to reduce marine plastic litter through a comprehensive approach that also includes land-based sources, a life cycle... Read more

Bodle, Ralph; Sina, Stephan (2019), "A treaty on plastic waste. Discussion paper for the international round-table on Tackling global plastic pollution – Ways towards an international convention", Ecologic Institute, Berlin.

PublicationReportNo More Plastics in the Ocean

Marine plastic pollution is a fast growing problem and it is not yet possible to estimate how severe the impacts currently are. Between 4.8 and 12.7 Mt of plastics ends up in the ocean each year, adding to the uncontrolled plastic waste already floating around the world... Read more

Simon, Nils et al. (2018): No More Plastics in the Ocean. Gaps in Global Plastic Governance and Options for a Legally Binding Agreement to Eliminate Marine Plastic Pollution. Draft report for WWF to support discussions at the Ad Hoc Open-ended Expert Group on Marine Litter and Microplastics. Berlin: adelphi.

PublicationArticleDeveloping Countries in the Lead – What Drives the Diffusion of Plastic Bag Policies?

Plastiktütenpolitiken im Globalen Norden und Globalen Süden

While diffusion patterns are quite well understood in the context of the Global North, diffusion research has only been applied to a limited extent to investigate how policies spread across developing countries. In this article, Ecologic Institute's Doris Knoblauch,... Read more

Knoblauch, D.; Mederake, L.; Stein, U. Developing Countries in the Lead—What Drives the Diffusion of Plastic Bag Policies? Sustainability 2018, 10, 1994.