The Global Treaty on Plastic Pollution Can Catalyze a Roadmap for Circularity in the United States

By Anthony Tusino

In March 2022, 175 nations agreed to begin negotiations on a global treaty that would stem the flow of plastic waste into nature. When implemented, the treaty will equip countries with a roadmap for action and accountability for reducing the environmental impact of plastic waste. By addressing the entire lifecycle of plastics, from production and disposal to the need for better waste management systems, we can create a future where plastic no longer enters nature.

Now for the cold hard reality: the United States, which is the world’s biggest producer of the plastic waste, is nowhere near ready to implement the kind of plan required of countries under such a treaty. Our national recycling rates for plastic currently hover around 9 percent, with the rest of it accumulating as waste in landfills, communities and nature, to devastating effect. This dismal statistic is a result of factors including aging infrastructure, spotty access to recycling, the public’s widespread confusion over exactly what is recyclable, and the subsidized low cost of virgin materials. Producers of plastic are incentivized to create more, waste more and remain disconnected from the very system they put materials into. We can fix this.

The US, the world’s biggest producer of the plastic waste, is nowhere near ready to implement the kind of plan required under [the proposed Plastic] treaty