Calls for action as Global Plastic Treaty negotiations get underway

Climate campaigners are urging the Scottish Government to do more to tackle plastic pollution as global negotiations on a new international agreement begin. This week, 175 governments are meeting in Busan, South Korea to start the final round of UN negotiations for a Global Plastics Treaty to end plastic pollution.

Last month, 28 civil society organisations in Scotland, including Friends of the Earth Scotland and Marine Conservation Society, wrote to the First Minister to ask him to show public support for the strongest possible version of the treaty and step up action at home.

John Swinney responded to the letter, saying that “the Scottish Government fully supports the Global Plastic Treaty” and that the new circular economy law would “significantly increase reuse and recycling rates”.

But campaigners say the action being taken in Scotland is not enough.

In Scotland alone, it is estimated that over two million plastic bottles are sold every day. Household recycling rates have been stuck around 45% for a decade. Despite a ban on single use plastic items like plastic straws, cutlery and containers made of polystyrene, no fines were issued in the first year of the ban.

In their letter to the First Minister, campaigners urged the Scottish Government to increase investment in reuse services and hold companies responsible for cleaning up their plastic waste.

Kim Pratt from Friends of the Earth Scotland said:

“The Scottish Government needs to make good on its promise to tackle the plastics crisis. The First Minister recently confirmed the Scottish Government’s full support for the Global Plastics Treaty, but it is failing to take the necessary action to stop plastic pollution at home.

“The circular economy law will only be effective if it’s followed by action to fundamentally change the way we use materials. Measures that are in place today, such as recycling and selective product bans, have proven insufficient. Solutions must address the root cause of the crisis including how plastics are produced and sold.

“Plastic causes climate-wrecking emissions, wreaks environmental damage and harms our health. The tide could be finally turning with global discussions underway. We need Scotland to be playing its part and strengthening these global efforts by creating the change we want to see in the world right now.”