Addressing plastic product design in the Global Plastics Treaty – Briefing

Establishing a clear vision for product design is essential to mitigate plastic pollution and reduce toxic exposure in line with resource efficiency and circular economy principles and the waste hierarchy.

Moreover, a binding global obligation on product design will provide market signals to unlock investment in the management of plastics across the lifecycle. Product design, recognising the needs and priorities of different sectors, should be at the heart of the future Global Plastics Treaty, providing a straightforward demand-side approach to reduce virgin material use, promote resource efficiency, the circular economy and chemical simplification and facilitate environmentally sound end-of-life treatment.

This briefing presents the benefits of a common global approach to product design and considerations for implementation within the treaty.