MPs to explore how the UK can effect change in the Global Plastics Treaty negotiations
On Tuesday 8 July, the EFRA Committee will hold a one-off evidence session focusing on the Global Plastics Treaty, as part of its broader inquiry into a circular economy.
The fifth and final round of negotiations for a new Global Plastics Treaty was intended to finish in November 2024 in South Korea. However, the talks ended without an agreement and another round of talks is scheduled to take place between 5 and 14 August 2025 in Geneva, Switzerland.
The session next week will be an opportunity for MPs to explore the key proposed elements of the Treaty, the UK’s leadership on the issues, and the barriers that need to be overcome to achieve an agreement in the August talks.
In the two-panel session, the Committee will first hear from representatives from Greenpeace and the Waste Law Research Group, as well as Professor Richard Thompson OBE FRS, an expert on plastic pollution and Co-ordinator of the Scientists’ Coalition for an Effective Plastics Treaty.
Meeting details
MPs will explore why a Global Plastics Treaty is necessary and what key elements the UK delegation should be pushing for in Geneva, as well as how the UK could use its soft power to help facilitate constructive negotiations. Members will also ask witnesses for their views on how the Treaty should deal with chemicals of concern in plastics, and how it should incorporate the most up to date scientific understanding of these chemicals, and their impact.
In the second panel, the Committee will question the Vice-President of Sustainability at Coca-Cola European Partners (CCEP), the world's largest independent Coca-Cola bottler, as well as the Head of Investor Relations at INEOS Group, the British Plastics Federation’s Sustainability Manager, and the Head of Recycling Policy at the Environmental Services Association.
MPs will ask the industry representatives what they would like to see the UK delegation prioritise at the August negotiations, the extent of their engagement with the Global Plastics Treaty process so far, and what the implications of a Treaty on their sector would be, as well as what impact it might have on product prices.