CEOs from 21 organisations, including retailers Decathlon, Ikea, and Aldi, are urging global policymakers to seize the opportunity presented by a forthcoming treaty on plastic pollution to get to grips with the issue and accelerate towards a circular economy.
Ahead of next month’s final negotiations on the world’s first treaty to tackle plastic pollution, INC-5, which is taking place in Busan, Korea between 25 November and 1 December, an open letter has been written calling on governments to tackle the root causes of the issue.
In essence, the global CEOs putting their name to the letter are calling on governments to agree on an ambitious and actionable treaty to end plastic pollution.
“INC-5 in November represents a once-in-a-generation opportunity to address plastic pollution at a global level,” the letter states.
“As business leaders, we’re calling on governments to unite and deliver a treaty that is fit for purpose. As members of the Business Coalition for a Global Plastics Treaty, a group of 250+ global businesses, financial institutions and NGOs, we see an ambitious treaty with binding global rules as a chance to harmonise the policy landscape, strengthen national legislation, and help businesses scale proven solutions for priority sectors such as packaging.”
It argues global rules are “good for governments” and have a positive impact on reducing long-term public spending on waste management, while also mobilising investment to create jobs across the value chain.
“A treaty based on voluntary measures alone risks delaying action by decades,” the CEOs write. “This would create further fragmentation in the regulatory landscape for business, leading to increased cost and complexity.”
For business to implement an effective plastic pollution treaty, the letter states, INC-5 needs to establish:
- Global criteria and lists that enable the restriction and phase out of chemicals of concern as well as problematic and avoidable plastic products
- Sector-specific approaches and global criteria for circular product design of plastic products, such as packaging
- Common definitions and key principles for the effective implementation of Extended Producer Responsibility schemes
- A strong mandate for the governing body to strengthen the agreement over time.
The corporate leaders argue they are already working to transform their business models “to catalyse a circular economy in which plastic never becomes waste or pollution, and the value of products and materials is retained in the economy”. Voluntary industry initiatives have created semi-alignment on the matter, they say, but they are not enough to address plastic pollution at scale.
“There is no time to waste, INC-5 presents a critical opportunity that we cannot afford to miss.”
Names attached to the open letter
- Antoine de Saint-Affrique, CEO, Danone
- Augusto Bauer, CEO, AJE
- Barbara Martin Coppola, CEO, Decathlon
- Carsten Knobel, CEO, Henkel
- Christian Klein, CEO, SAP
- Fisk Johnson, CEO, SC Johnson
- Hein Schumacher, CEO, Unilever
- Jon Abrahamsson Ring, CEO, Inter IKEA Group
- Kevin Kwilinski, CEO, Berry Global
- Laurent Freixe, CEO, Nestlé
- Magnus Groth, CEO, Essity
- Peter Konieczny, CEO, Amcor
- Philipp Lehner, CEO, ALPLA
- Poul Weihrauch, CEO, Mars Inc
- Ramon Laguarta, CEO, PepsiCo
- Rodrigo Tona, CEO, Ternova
- Samuel Sigrist, CEO, SIG
- Stefan Doboczky, CEO Borealis
- Surendra Patawari, Chairman, Gemini Corporation
- Tom Daunt, Member of executive board, Aldi South Group
- Tom Szaky, CEO, Terracycle
- Tove Andersen, CEO, Tomra
[image credit: Green Retail World]
