Plastic Pollution: UN treaty talks and corporate action

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