Business Coalition, co-chaired by Unilever, endorses Bridge to Busan Declaration

Today, the Business Coalition for a Global Plastics Treaty, representing over 250 businesses, financial institutions and NGOs across the plastics value chain, has signed the ‘Bridge to Busan Declaration on Primary Plastic Polymers’ to stress the importance of and the need for an international legally binding instrument that addresses the full life-cycle of plastics.

As set out in the Business Coalition's Vision Statement published two years ago, we acknowledge the need to reduce plastic production and use through a circular economy approach, focusing on those plastics that have high-leakage rates, are short-lived, and/or are made from fossil-based virgin resources.

While the Business Coalition remains open to discussing the appropriate type of science-based objectives and measures, the Business Coalition believes it is imperative that production is included in the scope of the plastics treaty. This will allow the Conference of the Parties (COP) to adopt such decisions in the future, and governments to take action on them.

Positive action on plastic polymer production

Based on the Business Coalition’s roadmap towards an effective global plastics treaty (‘Treaty On A Page (PDF 60 KB)’), members call on governments to continue discussions on potential elements and actions to achieve sustainable levels of production of primary plastic polymers, such as:

• Each party to the treaty must report on the type and quantity of plastic polymers produced in their country, including information on the origin of the raw materials used.
• Governments should commit to continuously improve their national policies to promote sustainable consumption and production of plastics, safe circular economy approaches and environmentally sound management of plastic waste.
• The plastics treaty should allow the Conference of the Parties (COP) to adopt a global set of quantitative and qualitative targets to strengthen national efforts over time, supporting our desired global outcomes on reduction, circulation, prevention and remediation.
• As part of national implementation plans, the treaty should be able to drive the adoption of economic incentives and regulatory mechanisms to enable the transition to a circular economy, leading to an overall reduction of plastic production and use.

Find a list of businesses which have endorsed the Business Coalition for a Global Plastics Treaty.

Find out more about the Business Coalition’s ambition for the treaty ahead of the fifth and last planned round of negotiations.