PLASTICS REGULATIONS AND EMERGING POLICIES

INTERNATIONAL LEVEL

Plastic is covered under various international fora. The Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal now considers the trade of plastic waste. Within the Sustainable Development Goals, plastic falls under SDG 12, to: “Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns”. Certain targets within this goal also align with the circular economy model, to: “Substantially reduce waste generation through prevention, reduction, recycling and reuse” by 2030. The Paris Climate Agreement is also relevant given its target to limit the increase in global temperature to 1.5 degrees. Indeed, figures show that current trends related to plastic production and associated emissions would exceed the remaining carbon budget for industrial greenhouse gas emissions under a 2 degrees scenario – let alone a 1.5 degrees target.

CIRCULAR ECONOMY LEVEL

Society needs to move away from the current linear “take, make and dispose” approach to producing and consuming plastic to one where materials are used, and their value maintained, for as long as possible – a circular economy. In 2019, the EU Technical Expert Group on Sustainable Finance released a classification system, the Taxonomy, for environmentally-sustainable economic activities. The Taxonomy presents technical screening criteria for climate change mitigation objectives, adaptation objectives and “do no significant harm” to other environmental objectives in the legislative proposal. Relating directly to plastic, one of the environmental objectives is labelled as “transition to a circular economy, waste prevention and recycling”. This objective is currently only considered under “do no significant harm” by the mitigation and adaptation objectives. However, technical screening criteria for the objective is expected to be developed in the future, meaning business activities regarded as green in their contribution to the circular economy will be scrutinised. The EU also has an Action Plan for the Circular Economy, launched in 2015, which considers product life cycles and encourages partnerships and collaboration across the value chain and sectors. Most member states have since developed their own national strategies, which have been adopted or are due to be implemented in line with the action plan. Regulatory actions include revised European legislation for waste management, adopted in 2018. These legislative changes set plastic recycling targets at 50 percent of plastic waste by 2025 and outline the minimum requirements of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) schemes . These schemes “require producers of products to bear the financial and organisational responsibility for the management of the waste stage of a product’s life cycle including separate collection, sorting and treatment operations.” Plastic is also one of five priority sectors that led to the EU Strategy for Plastics in a Circular Economy, which aims to transform how plastics and plastic products are designed, produced, used and recycled. Among its targets is that all plastic packaging should be reusable or recyclable by 2030.

RAW MATERIALS

There are currently no policies or regulations that directly target raw materials for bioplastics, nor the oil, gas and chemical companies involved in producing fossil fuel-based plastics (besides hazardous chemical legislations such as REACH). However, these companies may be indirectly impacted through policies which aim to: 1) increase the amount of recycled plastics; 2) reduce dependence on fossil fuels; and 3) reduce greenhouse gas emissions from extraction and production. This may dampen demand for fossil fuel feedstock for plastics production as companies further down the value chain look to shift to alternatives (such as paper) or recycled material. As governments increase their focus on achieving a circular economy (particularly in Europe and China), and work towards their commitments under the Paris Agreement, heads are turning to fossil fuel companies in terms of how they will transition to a low-carbon economy .

MANUFACTURE

Most reactive policies and regulations have focused on plastic packaging. Container and packaging designers and manufacturers are now under pressure to consider the composition and life cycle of their products. With the UK government consulting on a tax on plastic packaging made from less than 30 percent recycled content by 2022, manufacturers will be looking to source recycled content and incorporate this into packaging design. In India, the Plastic Waste (Management and Handling) Rules 2011 phase out the manufacture and use of non-recyclable, multi-layered plastic. Some states in the country have banned the manufacture and use of specific types of plastic. In addition, manufacturers and producers of PET/ PETE bottles are required to take back bottles and plastic waste under the aforementioned EPR

USE

The number of national and sub-national policies regulating single-use plastics has also risen dramatically. In the last four to five years, over 60 countries have introduced bans and levies to curb single-use plastic waste .

PLASTIC BAGS

It is estimated that between one and five trillion plastic bags are consumed globally each year. The primary regulatory focus is typically on non-recyclable LDPE bags, such as those used to wrap fresh produce. The EU has defined lightweight bags as those with a thickness of up to 50 microns (0.05 millimetres).

There are a range of regulations and fiscal incentives in place to reduce plastic bag use across jurisdictions.

According to a UN report:

■ Africa is the continent with the most countries that have banned the production and use of plastic bags. Over half (58 percent) of the 25 countries that have introduced national bans on plastic bags started implementing the policies between 2014 and 2017.

■ In North America, regulations have been introduced primarily at the state or city level. For example, lightweight plastic bags are banned in Montreal (Canada), and California and Hawaii (US).

 ■ Some countries in Asia, such as Bangladesh, banned plastic bags over a decade ago. More recently, several countries have attempted to control the manufacture and use of plastic bags through levies. However, enforcement of regulations has in many cases been poor, with single-use plastic bags continuing to be widely used and mismanaged.

The EU is also encouraging member states to reduce lightweight plastic bag consumption to a maximum of 90 per person a year by end-2019, and to a maximum of 40 by end-2025. In the UK, over 7 billion bags were handed out by seven supermarkets in the year before a five pence taxation system was enforced, a figure which plummeted to some 500 million in the first six months after the charge was introduced. Figures show that in 2017/18 customers bought nearly a quarter fewer bags compared to 2016/17, demonstrating the longer-term impact of regulation on consumer behaviour.

SINGLE-USE PLASTICS

Some governments have widened their regulatory focus to include other single-use plastics. For example:

■ Costa Rica committed to eliminate single-use plastics by 2021.

■ Single-use items including cutlery, straws, cups and balloons will be banned in Mexico City by 2021.

 ■ US states Maine and New York City banned single-use Expanded Polystyrene in 2017.

■ The EU will ban single-use plastic plates, cutlery, straws, balloon sticks and cotton buds by 2021. EU member states have also agreed to achieve a 90 percent collection target for plastic bottles by 2029. In addition, plastic bottles must be made from at least 25 percent recycled content by 2025, and 30 percent by 2030. ■ In 2018, the UK banned cosmetics and personal care products that contain microbeads.

■ Rottnest Island in Australia banned plastic drinking straws in 2019

DISPOSAL

There has been significant policy movement focused on global plastic disposal and waste management. .

CHINA’S BAN ON IMPORTED PLASTIC WASTE

The closing of China’s doors to imported plastic waste has brought the global waste management system crisis into focus, with the amount of material exported to China for treatment and reprocessing having soared in the past 15 years. In 2016, it was estimated that China imported two thirds of global plastic waste. This was mostly mixed plastic and considered to be a low-quality recyclable waste stream. In July 2017, China told the World Trade Organisation that it would enforce stringent contamination standards for 24 imported recycled materials as of 1 March 2018.

The move, known as the Chinese National Sword, bans waste material including eight types of plastic and lowers the contamination tolerance threshold to 0.5 percent. Globally, many material recycling facilities are struggling to reach this standard. While the ban is primarily aimed at reducing foreign waste to help protect China’s environment and improve public health, it is also part of a strategy to boost domestic recycling capacity to 350 million tonnes (across various waste resources and including plastic) by 2020 and to help the country move towards a more circular economy. The short-term impact of this block on materials will likely cause a dramatic surge in demand for disposal services, such as incineration and landfill, in other markets.

Other countries in Southeast Asia are beginning to follow China’s lead. Malaysia, Vietnam, the Philippines and Thailand, which increased their imports of plastic waste following China’s ban, are now also starting to ban low-quality imported plastic waste (materials that are unrecyclable) by setting higher quality standards.

With the waste export market slowly shrinking, governments are increasingly looking into EPR and deposit return schemes to reduce the amount of waste going to landfill or being incinerated. Germany, France, Estonia, Australia and South Africa are examples of where these approaches have driven producers to take a leading role in recycling bottles (particularly PET).

EXTENDED PRODUCER RESPONSIBILITY (EPR)

EPR legislation holds the producers of products responsible for any negative environmental externalities and associated costs. It incentivises manufacturers to design resource efficient and low-impact products, and to facilitate effective end-of-life collection and treatment of collected products for reuse and recycling. While plastic waste is primarily governed by regulations focused on packaging, EPR legislation also exists for electronic and electrical equipment, bringing some plastic items under these rules as well. There are EPR policies in the US, Canada and the EU. More EPR policies are likely to come into force as states in India and other jurisdictions begin to adopt them.

DEPOSIT RETURN SCHEMES

The number of deposit return schemes is increasing globally, with current systems mostly applied to beverage packaging. The buyer incurs a surcharge when purchasing the product, which is refunded when they return the empty packaging to a collection point. If the empty container is not returned, the deposit is forfeited. The schemes are common in states in Australia and Canadian provinces, and have been implemented in over 10 US states. Some countries and states have implemented container deposit laws, but which are not yet in operation (e.g. Fiji, Guam, Turks & Caicos, Barbados, western Australia, and New South Wales).

BASEL CONVENTION

In 2019, changes were made to the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal (the Basel Convention), which aims to limit global trade in hazardous waste. Solid plastic waste, which was excluded from the convention originally, has been brought into scope and tighter controls will be imposed on importers and exporters. The underlying impact will be that only clean shipments of contamination-free plastic waste will be allowed between countries. However, there is no guidance on the quality threshold or enforcement activity by importing countries. Plastic exporters are now required to notify and obtain consent from importers for mixed plastic bales through the Prior Informed Consent procedure.

ORGANIZATIONS IMPACTING THE PLASTICS SECTOR

1. UN Environment Assembly: Member states, businesses and third parties showcase and access information to support countries and cities that have made plastic reduction commitments. It facilitates the sharing of experiences, the establishment of new policies and inspiration for new commitments.
2. Ellen MacArthur Foundation: Unites businesses, governments and other organizations globally behind a common vision and targets, to address plastic waste and pollution at their source.
3. Alliance to End Plastic Waste: Cross-value chain group of global companies in North and South America, Europe, Asia, Southeast Asia, Africa and the Middle East that has committed over $ 1 billion. Goal is to invest $ 1.5 billion over the next five years to help end plastic waste in the environment.
4. The Commonwealth: The UK, Ghana, Sri Lanka, New Zealand and Vanuatu are collaborating to tackle marine plastics in partnership with businesses and NGOs. Each country has pledged to ban microbeads in rinse-off cosmetics and personal care products, as well as to cut plastic bag use by 2021.
5. Circulate Capital: A $ 90 million US investment fund funded by companies including Coca-Cola, Unilever, P&G, Danone and Dow, set up to combat marine plastic pollution in Asia.
6. #breakfreefromplastic: A global movement championing a future free from plastic pollution. Since its launch in September 2016, nearly 1,300 organizations globally have joined the movement to demand industry makes reductions in single-use plastics and to push for lasting solutions.
7. Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP): The first of a global network of agreements to address plastic waste on a voluntary basis (with others in France and Chile). WRAP sets out four targets for 2025 to address circularity and eliminate problematic or unnecessary single-use plastic.
8. Plastic Pollution Coalition: Growing global alliance of more than 1,200 organizations, businesses and thought leaders in 75 countries working toward a world free of pollution and its toxic impact on humans, animals, waterways, the ocean and the environment.
9. Clean Ocean Project: Donation-based NGO founded on the Canary Islands dedicated to raising awareness around the pollution of oceans ad encouraging the avoidance of plstic bags and other single-use plastic items.
10. The Ocean Cleanup: Non-profit engineering environmental organization based in the Netherlands that develops technology to extract plastic pollution from oceans and intercept it in rivers before it can reach the ocean.
11. Plastic Oceans: NGO with an ambitious goal to eradicate all plastic waste from the world’s water ecosystems, including rivers, lakes and oceans.