We must change how we design, use, and reuse plastics. We cannot simply recycle or reduce our way out of the plastic pollution crisis. If we don’t act now, by 2050 there could be more plastic than fish in the oceans.
From voluntary progress to global action
The Global Commitment has united businesses, governments, NGOs, and investors behind a common vision of a circular economycircular economyA systems solution framework that tackles global challenges like climate change, biodiversity loss, waste, and pollution. It is based on three principles, driven by design: eliminate waste and pollution, circulate products and materials (at their highest value), and regenerate nature. for plastics, delivering measurable progress. Yet even the largest voluntary initiatives reach only 20% of the market.
A strong Global Plastics Treaty can engage the whole market to tackle the root causes of plastic pollution. Global rules will unlock billions of dollars in investment, stimulate innovation, and simplify supply chains. Governments can save hundreds of billions in streamlined waste management and avoid the increasing costs of environmental and health impacts of plastic pollution.
The fifth round of negotiations (INC-5), which ended in December 2024, did not result in an agreement. Nevertheless, it revealed unprecedented momentum. Never before has such a strong majority aligned on ambitious legally-binding global rules, including on the phase-outs of problematic plastic products and sustainable levels of virgin plastic production.
Additionally, over 280 businesses and financial institutions, including many of the world’s largest consumer goods companies, have joined the Business Coalition for a Global Plastics Treaty, calling for an ambitious and actionable treaty to end plastic pollution.
As negotiations continue in 2025, we urge all these stakeholders to maintainmaintainKeep a product in its existing state of quality, functionally and/or cosmetically, to guard against failure or decline. It is a practice that retains the highest value of a product by extending its use period. their ambition, and champion an ambitious agreement that enforces global rules across the full lifecycle of plastics.
This treaty is a chance to show that the world can meet a global crisis with a global solution.
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A circular economy for plastic
The circular economy considers every stage of a product’s journey – before and after it reaches the customer. This approach is not only vital to stop plastic pollution, it also offers strong economic, social, and climate benefits. By 2040 a circular economy has the potential to:
reduce the annual volume of plastics entering our oceans by 80%
reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 25%
generate savings of USD 200 bn per year
create 700,000 net additional jobs
The circular economy considers every stage of a product’s journey – before and after it reaches the customer.
To create a circular economy for plastic we must take three actions:
Eliminate
Eliminate all problematic and unnecessary plastic items
Innovate
Innovate to ensure that the plastics we do need are reusable, recyclable, or compostable
Circulate
Circulate all the plastic items we use to keep them in the economy and out of the environment
