OUR POLICY ENDORSEMENT

Bold policies can accelerate industry development and incentivise the adoption of safe, environmentally sound, and sustainable non-plastic substitutes. To achieve this, we recommend that policy frameworks at all levels, from global to national, should incorporate the following key elements.

The development of a legally binding UN treaty is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to tackle the plastic pollution crisis in a globally coordinated way. To achieve this goal, the treaty should clearly define what constitutes plastic and non-plastic substitutes in section 3. Definitions. The NPG proposes that natural, not chemically modified polymer materials be defined as non-plastic substitutes in this section. 

Level the playing field for natural polymers and other non-plastic substitutes through considering a broad range of impact indicators to encourage solutions that are built-in regenerative, pose no pollution risk and have a low production footprint. 

We need bold and decisive action to tackle the plastic crisis that is harming our planet and our health. This includes ambitious targets to phase out the production and use of avoidable plastic products, measures such as EPR systems, taxes and levies on disposable and avoidable plastics and establish an intermediary specifically for natural polymers.