TCoPS - 5

CALL TO ACTION
WWF CALLS ON ALL GOVERNMENTS TO:
AT THE INTERNATIONAL LEVEL
● Start negotiations of a legally binding
international treaty to tackle all stages of the plastic
lifecycle, stopping the leakage of plastic pollution into
the oceans by 2030, thereby significantly contributing to
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and paving the
way for an accountability framework to address plastic
pollution on a global level. The treaty should:
● Establish national targets and action plans for
plastic reduction, recycling and management in line
with global treaty commitments, including transparent
reporting mechanisms that recognise the transboundary
nature of the problem.
● Establish harmonised definitions and standards
to define products and processes, applied across markets
and along the plastic value chain.
● Implement sufficient monitoring and compliance
measures for all policies related to the production,
collection and management of waste by all stakeholders in
the plastic system, supported by a shared global reporting
and monitoring framework.
● Establish a global scientific body to assess and
synthesise best available research on plastic and
microplastics in nature. Such a body would enable
the scientific community to pool resources and develop
common standards for measuring and reporting on
plastic pollution leakage.
● Provide implementation support both in the form
of a financial mechanism as well as technical
support, including sharing of the best practice among
states.
● Provide support for increased research into,
reporting of, and accounting for costs associated with the
plastic lifecycle from the academic community.
AT THE NATIONAL LEVEL
● Deploy appropriate policy instruments that
internalise the full cost of plastics and incentivise waste
reduction, implementation of reuse models, the creation
and use of recycled plastic over new plastic, and the
development of viable alternatives to plastic that have
smaller environmental footprints.
● Collaborate with industries and civil society
groups to ensure a systems-based approach that
addresses plastic production, consumption, waste
management, and recycling as a singular system, and
refrain from individual, fragmented or symbolic policy
actions.
● Invest in ecologically-sound waste management
systems domestically and in countries where a nation's
plastic waste is exported for disposal, thereby locking in
long-term economic and environmental benefits.
● Legislate effective extended producer
responsibility (EPR) as a policy mechanism for
all plastic-producing sectors to ensure the greater
accountability of companies in the collection, reduction,
recycling, and management of the plastic waste
originating in their trade chains.
● Work at appropriate subnational levels to
establish robust management plans and transparent
accounting mechanisms that prevent plastic leakage
into water systems or other mismanaged waste disposal
mechanisms.
Las Vegas, Nevada, USA, 2019 © shutterstock / John Dvorak
TCoPS

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of TCoPS
