A major UN conference to negotiate a global treaty on plastic pollution just ended without an agreement. But efforts may resume in 2025 to get a treaty over the finish line. In this two-part episode, you’ll hear first from Erin Simon, WWF’s vice president for plastic waste and business, about what happened at that conference in Korea (known as INC-5) and what comes next for the global fight against plastic pollution. Then, in Part 2, you’ll hear from Sheila Bonini, WWF’s senior vice president for private-sector engagement; and Kevin Keane, president and CEO of American Beverage (ABA) – the trade association representing the nation’s non-alcoholic beverage industry. Sheila and Kevin’s teams have been working together for the last five years to find different ways to achieve material circularity – which means that all the plastic, as well as other materials like aluminum, that get used are collected and remade into new products. Sheila and Kevin will tell us about what’s working, what hurdles still remain, and how they plan to advance their mission regardless of whether a global plastics treaty gets adopted.
Links for More Info:
Erin Simon Bio
Sheila Bonini Bio
Kevin Keane Bio
WWF Plastics Page
WWF-ABA Partnership
Sustainability Works Blog: “Five Years of Progress: WWF and ABA’s Partnership for Practical Solutions”
WWF Statement on INC-5 Outcome
Chapters:
0:00 Preview
0:24 Intro
2:22 Refresher on UN treaty process
5:39 Consensus as a weapon
8:52 What happened at INC-5
11:55 WWF’s 4 “must-haves” in a final treaty
13:53 Stumbling blocks in negotiations
17:26 Conclusion of negotiations
23:05 What happens next?
26:27 Role for companies
31:28 Interlude, Part 2 begins
33:07 Explaining the American Beverage Association
34:41 Why does ABA want to address plastic pollution?
38:08 WWF-ABA partnership
41:41 Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) policies
46:54 Consumer awareness
48:39 ABA’s EPR principles
54:39 Building consumer confidence about recycling
56:30 Lessons for other industries
59:17 Plastic pollution is a bipartisan policy issue
01:02:41 WWF-ABA Lessons Learned
01:07:12 Outro
