U.S., France to seek global accords on plastic but environmentalists wary about “non-binding commitments”
The governments of France and the U.S. announced on Feb. 11, 2022 that they have decided to start work together to seek international accords to reduce plastic waste so that it won´t end up in rivers and oceans.
While the U.S. Chemistry Council, a guild of chemical producers, fully backed the announcement, the environmentalist group Greenpeace almost as readily warned against any strategy that would include “non-binding commitments” as they may not be enough deterrent.
France and the U.S. are home to some of the industry´s biggest plastic resin production companies including Dow, ExxonMobil, and Total Petrochemical. Many of the world´s petrochemical companies have operations in one of the two countries, or in both.
Total Energies Petrochemicals & Refining USA, with plants in Louisiana and Texas, is one of North America´s biggest polypropylene, polystyrene and base chemicals producers. Dow alone has three production sites in France with about 500 employees there.
The governments of Emmanuel Macron and his American counterpart Joe Biden “are committed to protecting our environment for future generations,” the statement said.
Countries home to export-oriented resin production include mainly China, Belgium, Brazil, Germany, India, Japan, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, and the UK.
Other countries, including those with large oil or gas reserves like Russia and Mexico, have focused more on raw hydrocarbon exports. Most countries lack any petrochemical industry and just import resin to be reshaped by converters into final plastic goods.
UN Environment Assembly
Biden and Macron will engage other leaders because they recognize “the transboundary aspects of plastic pollution and the importance of curbing it at its source,” according to the statement.
As a result, the U.S. and France “support launching negotiations at the upcoming 5th UN Environment Assembly (UNEA) on a global agreement to address the full lifecycle of plastics and promote a circular economy,” it added.
“The agreement should include binding and non-binding commitments, call on countries to develop and implement ambitious national action plans, and foster robust engagement of stakeholders,” the joint U.S. and France statement said.
Significant alignment
The Washington D.C.-based American Chemistry Council, which groups chemical companies including domestic and foreign plastic resin producers, fully supported the statement.
“We believe such an agreement will accelerate progress towards a circular economy most effectively through binding and non-binding commitments,” said Joshua Baca, the American Chemistry Council’s vice president of plastics.
“The joint statement issued by the U.S. and France indicates there is significant alignment between what plastic makers and the U.S. and France hope to see come out of the UNEA negotiations,” Baca said.
“America’s plastic makers fully support a resolution at the upcoming UN Environment Assembly (UNEA) to begin negotiations on a legally binding global agreement to curb plastic waste in the environment,” it added. The meeting begins Feb. 23 in Kenya.
The industry has long backed work on a “circular economy” for plastics as well as on working on changes on product design, increased use of recycled plastics, and technology deployment to minimize waste.
Greenpeace position
Environmental organization Greenpeace responded also to the joint U.S.-France statement saying they support only a legally “binding” Global Plastics Treaty that addresses the full lifecycle of plastic.
The U.S. “is one of the world’s biggest plastic polluters and a major exporter of plastics to the Global South, said John Hocevar, Greenpeace USA´s Ocean Campaign Director.
“After being one of a handful of countries actively opposing a plastic treaty under (U.S. President Donald) Trump administration, it is very encouraging to see this turnaround,” he added.
“Though it is worrying to see the U.S. mention the inclusion of non-binding commitments in the treaty mandate. Binding commitments are needed in order to ensure government and corporate accountability,” Hocevar said.
Greenpeace, a non-government global organization, was founded in Vancouver in 1971. It monitors oceans through fleets of ships with crews of scientists.
Some key stakeholders
Patrick Jean Pouyanne is CEO of TotalEnergies since 2014. The company was founded as a state oil company in the 1920s but is currently private. Total posted $183 billion in sales revenue in 2021, a year when its polypropylene production in the U.S. saw exceptionally high margins.
Jim Fitterling is since 2018 the chairman and chief executive officer of Dow, a Midland,Michigan-based company with 2021 sales revenue of $55 billion.
According to Fitterling, plastic production is set to increase significantly in 2022 in North America but it will be absorbed as there is strong demand for plastic resin. Four million tonnes of new annual polyethylene capacity will start just in North America in 2022, with at least half of it likely destined for export, he said.
By Renzo Pipoli