Plastics & Rubber
Viewpoint on the UN TREATY to end Plastic Pollution
Key messages
- BASF fully recognizes that existing policy measures are insufficient to curb global plastic waste leakage.
- Rethinking the way we make, use and recycle plastics is key to reduce the plastic waste leakage into the environment.
- We strongly encourage well-designed policy measures that support the transition towards net-zero emissions of the plastics value chain and an end to plastic waste leakage.
About the topic
The United Nations (UN) forge an international legally binding instrument on plastic pollution (ILBI-PP or UN Plastics Treaty) by end-2024. It addresses the full lifecycle of plastics, from design, production, use to disposal.
How to realize an ambitious treaty that accelerates the industry transformation
BASF is fully committed to supporting well-designed policy measures that help end plastic waste pollution and speed up the transformation of the plastics value chain to net-zero emissions. Accordingly, caps on the production of primary plastic polymers and de-listings of chemicals, polymers, additives, or products can lead to regrettable environmental and socio-economic consequences and ultimately be counterproductive towards the initial goal of reducing waste. Instead,
-
We support a standardized, risk-based “decision tree” logic1 to identify products that need improvement in terms of circularity while recognizing their social, environmental, and economic value.
-
Products should be designed considering the entirety of environmental and socio-economic aspects, specifics of applications and the need for polymer diversity (hence Design for Sustainability).
-
Circular plastics2 and all recycling technologies (i.e., mechanical/ physical, chemical, and organic) should be supported as well as plastic waste should be recognized as a resource. We call for allowance to export and import plastic waste to environmentally sound recycling plants.
-
For chemicals of concern, we encourage alignment with existing policy frameworks3 and threshold-based approaches under the Globally Harmonized System (GHS). We fully recognize the need for regulating microplastics and call for a clearly defined scope and risk-based assessment of any regulatory intervention thereof.
-
To finance plastic waste management, we advise against unspecified taxes or fees in favor of transparent financing dedicated to plastic waste management (e.g., Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) schemes that can be initiated locally through plastic credits4).
For further information please contact dialog-plastics@basf.com.
1 Decision tree assessment tool (graph and explanation) is a science based approach that follows a hierarchical flow of questions based on the waste hierarchy.
2 Report Reshaping plastics, Systemiq 2022: Circular plastic materials are considered in the report as plastics from mechanical and chemical recycling, compostable plastics for organic recycling and plastics produced from sustainable biomass or CCU feedstock.
3 e.g. the global Framework of Chemicals (GFC), BRS Conventions (Basel, Rotterdam, Stockholm)
4 Plastic Credits are understood as transferable units representing an eqivalent quantity of plastic waste that was collected from the environment and subsequently recycled or savely recovered (adapted from WWF)