As many of you are aware, the second session of the UN’s Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee, INC-2, is convening in Paris from May 29-June 2 as they work to develop an international treaty to address plastic pollution. While INC-1, held last November in Uruguay, largely involved procedural discussions, this INC meeting will include the first substantive debates on core elements of the treaty. 

Between now and September 2023—as the UN Secretariat is developing a first draft—marks a key window for influencing which provisions are included in the Treaty. This is a pivotal moment and a major opportunity for the Reuse Movement. When ratified at the end of 2024, 175 governments around the world will be committed to the terms of this treaty. 

Upstream and many of our partners and friends in the plastic pollution and reuse space will be present at various talks and events in Paris this week and next—working to make it clear that reuse is essential to reducing plastic pollution (see the joint statement here). Our Chief Strategy Officer & Interim CEO Dr. Priscilla Johnson will be speaking at a workshop organized by the US Dept of State and the USDA titled Galvanizing Global Action on Plastic Pollution. Below are some of the key talking points Upstream is focused on relaying to all stakeholders as treaty negotiations progress. 

One: focus on single-use, not just single-use plastic. 

It is crucial when considering a treaty on plastics that we not lose sight of the big picture: all single-use materials are problematic. To truly live within our planetary limits, we must transition to a new reuse economy that replaces single-use with reuse to avoid the worst impacts of extraction, manufacture, and disposal of Earth’s limited resources.

The treaty must avoid enabling “regrettable substitutes” that allow companies to switch from single-use plastic to other forms of single-use packaging or products, including compostables and paper. 

Two: Build in reuse & refill, bigtime. And make it law.

Upstream supports the #BreakFreeFromPlastic movement’s ask for legally binding, time-bound, and ambitious targets to implement and scale up reuse and refill. Ultimately, the treaty could set voluntary measures and targets—like the Paris Climate Agreement—or make them legally binding, like the Montreal Protocol. If we are really going to solve the plastic pollution crisis, this treaty must be legally binding.

We all know the iconic image of the chasing arrows in a triangle: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. But somewhere along the way, we forgot that the first two R’s — reduce and reuse — are way more important than recycling for the environment. When you look at the hard numbers, it’s clear recycling alone will never be enough, nor is it as clear-cut and environmentally friendly a process as many of us believe.

Even as major global companies like Coca-Cola, Pepsi, and Starbucks have announced ambitious targets to increase their reusable packaging, they continue to face roadblocks and setbacks. A new report from our friends at Oceana shows some companies have lost progress toward their reuse targets in the past year. This is exactly why we need strong policy — including a legally binding global treaty — to level the playing field and ensure that all companies contribute to the new reuse economy by working together to build the shared infrastructure they will need to achieve reuse goals. Because no company, city, or community can get there alone.

Three: Reuse creates good, safe, green jobs.

In the New Reuse Economy, consumable products come in reusable packaging. Reuse infrastructure — for collection, reverse logistics, washing/sanitizing, and refilling/restocking — serves companies and consumers in local and regional supply chains. This system is built around the concept of packaging as a service and not a product. It’s the foundation for a circular economy that stewards the resources we take from the planet by creating a package once and reusing that package in closed, regional loops for as long as possible – minimizing natural resource extraction, preventing waste and pollution, and creating local economic opportunities and jobs (through delivery, pick-up, cleaning, stocking and logistics, to name a few.)

Thus, we also support the BFFP movement’s call for a just transition to safer and more sustainable livelihoods for workers and communities across the plastics supply chain, including those in the informal waste sector; and addressing the needs of frontline communities affected by plastic production, incineration, and open burning. The transition to a New Reuse Economy offers a golden opportunity to achieve more social and economic equity.

The bottom line 

Ultimately: Upstream supports a strong treaty that aligns with the goals of the High Ambition Coalition of countries, including legally-binding global rules and an emphasis on decreased production through a switch to reuse (rather than more recycling). We can’t wait to report back from Paris!