Amid the growing global plastic pollution crisis, an efficient and binding international plastics treaty is coming into focus as a possible solution. This was discussed in the course of the webinar ‘Towards a UN Treaty on Plastic Pollution: Working Together for Policy Change and the Transition to a Circular Economy’, which took place on Wednesday 14 November.
The event, organized by EuroCham Indonesia along with the Business Coalition for a Global Plastics Treaty (BCGPT), featured speakers comparable to Carsten Wachholz (Plastics Policy Manager, Ellen MacArthur Foundation), Karyanto Wibowo (EuroCham Sustainability Working Group), Muhammad Abdul Aziz Ramdhani (Ministry of Industry) and Fajri Fadillah (ICEL) with moderator Angeline Callista from Sirsak.co.
The webinar highlighted the importance of a global agreement on plastic pollution through the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC) to advertise more responsible management of plastic waste and speed up the transition to a circular economy.
During the discussion, Carsten Wachholz of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, who can also be co-chair of the BCGPT Secretariat, emphasized the importance of shared ambition to realize an efficient global plastics treaty for businesses, corporations and financial institutions.
Recognizing the necessity to adapt policy to national conditions, he advocated a harmonized approach to create a sound global policy. Through the BCGPT, he called on the private sector to show strong political will to enable governments to speed up efforts to handle plastic pollution, while promoting the transition to a circular economy.
Meanwhile, Muhammad Abdul Aziz Ramdhani from the Ministry of Industry highlighted the important thing role of the manufacturing sector, especially petrochemicals, in supporting national economic growth through increased investment, production and use of plastics within the domestic market. He stressed the necessity to apply circular economy principles from the upstream level, specializing in environmentally friendly materials and design, and to develop a national motion plan covering various sectors.
To support the Global Plastics Treaty, he noted that synergy between the federal government, private sector, start-ups and the informal sector is important for effective management of plastic waste post-INC-5.
Karyanto Wibowo from the EuroCham Sustainable Development Working Group also stressed the importance of cooperation between the business sector and government in supporting Indonesia on its path to INC-5, hoping that the Plastics Treaty will harmonize global policies and techniques. He suggested reducing the usage of virgin plastic to advertise a circular economy, reduce industry dependency and tackle plastic pollution.
Karyanto also stated that the industry is open to dialogue with the federal government to be certain that the INC-5 outcomes are inclusive and end in fair policies. He expressed hope that the Global Plastics Treaty would result in practical solutions and that the business sector would commit to reworking business models to speed up the transition to a circular economy.
Fajri Fadillah from the Indonesian Center for Environmental Law (ICEL) stressed the importance of specializing in upstream life cycle elements of plastics, particularly plastic production, and ensuring social inclusion as a part of a just transition. He also called for strengthening dialogue with waste management stakeholders and expanding access to discussions on plastic reduction.
Fajri stressed the necessity to introduce the principle of Common But Differentiated Responsibility (CBDR) within the implementation of the Global Plastics Treaty, with clear targets and strict controls on the production of virgin plastics. He expressed hope that the treaty would bear in mind the impact of plastic pollution on the climate crisis and biodiversity, and encourage more ambitious policies to speed up global motion.
