Page 26 - Plastics News March 2022

depletion and the Paris accord to contain 99 per cent of plastics. Experts are expecting fierce resistance
the effects of climate change. The United Kingdom-based Environ- from the petrochemical industry, who
Some striking features similar to these mental Investigation Agency (EIA) has are not happy with the resolution. This
treaties are that they are open ended. outlined what exactly encompasses the is because plastics are some of the big-
This means negotiators can add new top- life cycle of plastics from extraction to gest drivers of fossil fuel demand. In In-
ics that they see relevant and leave room end of life disposal, citing some very im- dia, the share price of Reliance Industries
for discussions on topics that were not portant facts with respect to greenhouse limited (RIL) fell as the global plastic
discussed in detail in the current nego- (GHG) gas emissions, health, water pol- treaty news spread across the country.
tiations. Such issues can be discussed in lution, production, use and end-of-life RIL holds a 42 per cent stake in the In-
subsequent meetings and help members disposal. dian plastic ecosystem.
move towards a stronger plastic treaty. Stage of lifecycle of plastic Facts stated There are very high chances that the plas-
Multilateral global fund also ensures by EIA, UK Extraction tic industry might attempt to insert false
that countries and economies in transi- • Almost two billion tonnes of GHG solutions like chemical recycling (plastic
tion, especially those in the global south emissions per year to fuel) and incineration (including co-
that have to deal with a large fraction of • At least 10,000 additive chemicals incineration) in the final text. This is be-
plastic waste but have least to do with its used, of which 25 per cent are haz- cause the agreement invites all relevant
propagation, are supported by countries ardous Production stakeholders that include giant business-
whose plastic production and waste gen- • Over 460 million tonnes of plastic es and industries such as petroleum and
eration are much higher. produced annually petrochemical. The industry has been
Objections from countries • 2,30,000 tonnes of plastic pellets en- promoting chemical recycling, with lim-
In the course of the negotiations, some ter the environment every year Use ited success to enable further production
of those points faced objections from • Per capita use of plastic is as high as of plastics and label plastics as circular.
countries, including the United States, 221 kilogram for some countries We can also expect a lot of companies to
Japan and India. At least one point has • Half of all the plastics used is single- start claiming they are “plastic neutral”.
been dropped from the resolution after use plastic (SUP) End of life Man- The term refers to the practice of collect-
objections from US, which focused on aged (in some parts of the world) ing back and recycling the same amount
the concern over chemicals in plastic. • Only nine per cent of all plastics ever of plastic they put out in the market as
Japan and India presented their draft res- produced have been recycled products. A classic example is Indian
olutions before UNEA 5.2, while the US • Over 90 per cent of plastic waste multinational consumer goods company
didn’t present any. Japan was rooting for goes to landfills, is dumped or incin- Dabur Ltd that announced they’re plastic
a treaty focusing solely on marine litter erated neutral February 14, 2022.
and India had proposed a voluntary ap- • Over eight million tonnes of plastics In India, as per the latest extended
proach rather than a legally binding one. are exported annually Mismanaged producer responsibility notifications,
The term “voluntary” was retained in the (In other parts of the world) most fast-moving consumer goods com-
final text on India’s insistence. Also as per • 12 million tonnes leak into the ocean panies will now start focusing on trading
reports, India was keen on insertion of every year plastic credits and move towards plastic
words “national circumstances and ca- • Land pollution is upto 23 times neutrality to greenwash their brands and
pabilities” in the final text, which is in worse than ocean pollution move away from the accountability as-
alignment with its position of common Two-year overview pect of plastic. The beginning of writing
but differentiated responsibility under The next two years (till 2024) is where a global plastic treaty is just the first step
the Paris agreement. the actual work is going to be. While the to winning the battle against plastic pol-
What is the “full life cycle” of plastic? strong mandate coming out of UNEA lution. The real fight now is to develop a
What is unclear from the resolution is is a reflection of how quickly the plas- treaty without the negative influence of
oil, gas and coal companies will have any tic crisis is escalating, a lot still needs to the conglomerates.
obligations for extracting fossil fuels. The be done to translate the commitment to
extraction phase is the source of around tangible reality.

26 PLASTICS NEWS March 2022