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

Publication: Report
Citation: 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.

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 preparing for the upcoming negotiations, this report by Linda Mederake and Doris Knoblauch (both Ecologic Institute), aims to provide an analysis of the region’s opportunities to end single-use plastics (SUPs) pollution through the development of this new global treaty.

No other plastic usage represents the problem of plastic pollution as much as single-use plastics 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.

This report

identifies the top five problematic SUP items in Asia along the following eight criteria: prevalence, leakage volume, environmental harm, economic costs, lack of recycling potential, human health risks, social justice impacts, and potential for reduction,
outlines the policy pathways most often recommended tackling the existing problems with these SUPs based on the potential impact of the respective policies, the ease in implementing and enforcing a certain policy, and existing experiences and best practices to learn from,
discusses potential content of the new international legally binding instrument to address the most problematic SUP items.

The report is based on a literature review of available information and materials published in English between 2018 and 2022.

The new international legally binding agreement holds great potential for a globally orchestrated action against SUP pollution.

Asia's Opportunity to End Single-use Plastic Pollution

Global rules in a new global treaty

May - Jun 2022

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

ProjectA Global Treaty on Plastic Pollution – Perspectives from Asia

Richard Whitcombe | Fotolia.com

Plastic pollution has become one of the most pressing environmental issues. Calls for a global treaty to tackle plastic pollution have increased over the last years, discussions will continue at the next sessions of the UN Environment Assembly in February 2022. After... Read more

A Global Treaty on Plastic Pollution – Perspectives from Asia

Duration: Mar - Dec 2021
Funding: World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), Germany

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