The UN Global Plastics Treaty starts today

If successful, these talks could bring about a legally binding Global Plastics Treaty to cut the amount of plastic being produced.

The process so far hasn’t been plain sailing, with the fifth round of talks in December 2024 collapsing without agreement between nations. There have been several disagreements between countries pushing for commitments to cut the volume of plastics being produced, versus those wanting negotiations to focus on ways to recycle plastic, and for each country to be responsible for setting their own targets. Reports have emerged after previous conferences, outlining the sheer number of plastics-industry lobbyists who have been pushing for this to be the case.

We’ve been pushing the UK Government to support a high-ambition Global Plastics Treaty that would reduce the volume of plastics being produced. We want to see ambitious circular design requirements on single-use plastic products to make products easier to repair, reuse and recycle, and the introduction of Extended Producer Responsibility and other effective waste management and clean-up obligations for manufacturers of single-use plastic products.

We’ve signed a letter to Minister Emma Hardy supported by 20 other organisations, which calls on the UK Government to push for a strong and ambitious Global Plastics Treaty that tackles plastic at its source.

Outside of the Global Plastics Treaty, we've been championing the use of policy tools like Deposit Return Schemes. Deposit Return Schemes are one of the most effective tools for tackling single-use plastic bottles and other drinks-related litter. Countries with well-established schemes, like Germany and Norway, consistently achieve return rates of over 90%, drastically reducing the number of plastic bottles reaching the ocean. Deposit Return Schemes also help to support the shift toward a circular economy - a production model which aims to keep products and materials in use for as long as possible

We recently welcomed the UK, Scottish, and Welsh Governments’ recent announcements which promise the introduction of Deposit Return Schemes in their respective nations by October 2027.

To date, the UK Government has been pushing for an ambitious Global Plastics Treaty that would push for global plastics reduction targets.

Ahead of the June 2025 UN Ocean Conference 3, the UK signed onto the ‘Nice Wake Up Call for an Ambitious Plastic Treaty.’ This called for the adoption of a global target to reduce the production and consumption of primary plastic polymers to sustainable levels which would be regularly adjusted.

We urgently need it to keep up this momentum during the sixth round of Global Plastics Treaty talks.

Plastic production has increased more than 200 times since 1950. Without global action, it is set to almost triple again to more than a billion tonnes a year by 2060. The most rapid increase has been in the production of single-use plastics, like drinks bottles and fast-food containers.

Our most recent State of our Beaches report found that plastic litter has increased by nearly 10% across UK beaches surveyed in 2024, with 88% of litter found on UK beaches is made of plastic or polystyrene and four of the top ten litter items were single-use plastics, accounting for 18% of litter collected. 

With plastic pollution growing on our beaches and in our seas, the UK Government must use its voice at the Global Plastics Treaty negotiating table to push for a treaty that is ambitious, binding and backed by science. A UN Global Plastics Treaty that tackles the plastic problem by reducing production, championing circular design and holding polluters accountable is what the world desperately needs.