Dow, LyondellBasell CEOs urge support for UN Environment Assembly resolution

The CEOs of two of the world’s largest virgin plastic producers are calling for a global agreement to eliminate plastic waste in the environment by urging governments and stakeholders to press for a United Nations (UN) treaty resolution.

At the Wall Street Journal special event, “Getting There: A Global Agreement to End Plastic Waste,” Dow Chairman and CEO Jim Fitterling and LyondellBasell CEO Bob Patel spoke on behalf of the American Chemistry Council (ACC) and the International Council of Chemical Associations. They said plastic makers are committed to increasing constructive engagement with governments and other stakeholders to advance a circular economy for plastics.

Fitterling said, “Simply put, our vision is to prevent plastics from entering our environment by achieving universal access to waste collection and reusing instead of discarding plastics.”

The CEOs urged support for a resolution that will be introduced at the UN Environment Assembly in February 2022 to begin negotiations on a global agreement to end plastic waste in the environment. “We should not confuse the value of plastics with the issue of plastic waste,” Patel said. “This is a global challenge requiring a global solution. With support from the UN, we can develop a global framework to help us solve this critical issue.”

Virgin plastic producers have proposed a set of five principles they say will eliminate plastic waste, accelerate a circular economy for plastics and serve as the basis for a global agreement:

1. All governments agree to eliminate plastic waste leakage into the environment by a specific date and develop regionally appropriate national action plans and policies that allow flexibility based on local circumstances.
2. Achieve widespread access to waste collection and support deployment of technologies (including advanced recycling) to increase the circularity of plastics.
3. Recognize the role plastics play in a lower carbon future by supporting life cycle analysis as a means to evaluate the impacts of plastics and alternatives.
4. Support innovation in product and packaging design by developing, with industry input, global guidance on design, recycled content and resource optimization.
5. Measure progress on plastic waste through globally accepted definitions and reporting metrics, using validated and harmonized methodologies.

“Jim and Bob have taken a leadership role in developing solutions to eliminate plastic waste in our environment, both at their companies and for the industry,” says Joshua Baca, vice president of plastics at the American Chemistry Council. “Plastic makers look forward to participating in discussions on a new agreement that will help bring scalable solutions to ending plastic waste around the world.”

Earlier this summer, the plastic makers and the Washington-based ACC presented the U.S. Congress with an outline of five actions they say the legislative body can take to grow the circular economy for plastics.

That strategy includes establishing a national standard for plastic packaging to include at least 30 percent recycled content by 2030, developing an appropriate regulatory system that enables rapid scaling of advanced recycling, also known as chemical recycling, and an American-designed producer responsibility system for packaging that raises critical funding dedicated to improving recycling access, collection and education for all materials, the ACC says.