Good for business and the planet

NORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / May 7, 2024 / JUICE
Feature film by Heather Davies

Last week, the UN Plastics Convention reached the final stages of negotiations at INC-4 in Ottawa, Canada, to develop a legally binding, international agreement to address plastic pollution throughout the entire plastic life cycle. The fifth and final round of negotiations is expected to conclude at the end of this year, with an agreement expected to be formally ratified in 2025.

The treaty offers a unique opportunity to harness the potential of business to solve the plastic crisis. Its success is crucial. The production of new plastic is expected to double by 2040 without new and effective measures. Currently, only 10% of plastic is recycled, and 19 to 23 million tons of plastic ends up in our rivers, lakes and seas every year. Furthermore, greenhouse gas emissions from the production, management and disposal of plastics represent approximately 3.3% of global emissions. Exposure to plastics also affects human health, as traces of plastic are found in our blood.

Fortunately, there is global consensus on the urgent need to end this ecological and ecological crisis. That’s why 160 countries and hundreds of observer organizations are working together on this unique opportunity to end plastic pollution.

A treaty that focuses on the entire value chain of plastics

The existing plastic ecosystem is highly fragmented. Under current conditions, financial flows finance the creation of new polymers, while a linear material flow continues to bring new plastics to the market.

The negotiations aim to regulate production and consumption and take into account every stage of the plastic value chain, from the creation of the primary polymers to the way plastic waste is managed. It includes product design for plastic reduction and recycling, as well as extended producer responsibility to increase accountability of the most polluting entities while ensuring a just transition for affected communities.

This is an ambitious project. It’s about redesigning products, enabling circularity through repair, reuse and recycling, and making recycled polymers more economically viable than virgin plastics.

The treaty will create new jobs, markets and business opportunities. Research and development into plastic alternatives will be accelerated to eliminate the health-harming plastic pollutants released at every stage of plastic production. Furthermore, this will require the development of waste management systems to tackle the legacy of plastic waste.

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SAP endorses the Business Coalition

The Business Coalition for a Global Plastics Treaty, convened by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation and WWF, brings together businesses and financial institutions committed to supporting the development of an ambitious, effective and legally binding UN treaty to end to plastic pollution.

“To end plastic pollution we need both ambitious government policies and accelerated action from the business community. The global plastics treaty offers a unique opportunity to put in place the right legally binding rules, measures and incentives to tackle this global problem. ,” says Rob Opsomer, executive lead, Plastics and Finance, Ellen MacArthur Foundation.

With more than 200 members, including SAP, the Business Coalition for a Global Plastics Treaty calls for global business rules, supported by harmonized regulations, to address the full lifecycle of plastic products. This will level the global playing field, making it easier for companies and investors to scale up both upstream and downstream solutions, mobilize the right investments and support new innovations.

“For decades, SAP software has played a major role in managing material flows, including plastics, for our customers,” said Natasha Pergl, Global Sustainability Lead at SAP Consumer Products. “We understand firsthand the challenges our customers face in managing the complex and fragmented web of regulations that make it difficult today to understand current material flows and align upstream efforts with downstream -solutions.”

SAP calls for harmonization

Achieving systemic change will require collaboration and joint innovation, which depends on effective, well-functioning communication. Software and network technology play a central role in bridging the information gap and operationalizing an inclusive plastics ecosystem. The treaty should lay the foundation for harmonized regulations and simplified information flow and accelerate the implementation of global rules.

To achieve this, four essential elements must be present:

• Common definitions for plastics and packaging to ensure mutual understanding and interoperability: This applies to the categorization of different plastic polymers, how products are structured and named, and how they are packaged and sold.
• Harmonization throughout the life cycle of plastics, including product design criteria, extended producer responsibility schemes and recyclability assessment: This will support companies in designing for circularity and recyclability, ensuring strategic decisions are guided by the capabilities of existing downstream infrastructure, and highlighting where new capital investment is needed.
• Harmonized national disclosure regimes to ensure uniformity, comparability and transparency of information: This is essential to provide investors and regulators with an information base for policy guidance and decision-making. It will also enable companies to unleash the full potential of AI-driven innovation to accelerate solutions at scale.
• Recognizing the role of digital tools for traceability: Improved data and the application of digital tracking will enable real progress.

“The treaty’s goals are ambitious, but with an agreement that focuses on global rules governing product design and material fate, extended producer responsibility schemes and chemicals of concern, we can unleash the power of global business to deliver the necessary solutions. Importantly, SAP is ready with the processes and systems to help companies quickly seize the opportunities and scale the impact to end plastic pollution,” said Stephen Jamieson, Global Head of Circular Economy Solutions, SAP.

Software solutions such as SAP Responsible Design and Production and SAP Green Token already allow companies to monitor, measure and take action to facilitate product design for a more sustainable and circular economy. But a more effective flow of information for better collaboration and innovation is needed to achieve systemic change.

The role of AI

An obvious benefit of agreed common terminology and harmonization of criteria and disclosure rules is that this could open the door for companies to leverage AI. Some intended applications in the manufacturing process include reducing virgin polymers and increasing material and supply chain efficiency. Downstream applications such as waste sorting, material recovery, quality control, identifying waste stream trends and predictive analytics would also be enabled.

A daring approach

The discussions in Ottawa were productive and focused on reducing and limiting plastic production. During the talks, Rwanda and Peru tabled a motion to reduce global production of primary plastic polymers by 40% by 2040, compared to 2025 baseline. Their vision is for this to become legally binding, just like the Paris Agreement to limit global warming.

Robust data clarity and information sharing systems are crucial to enable companies to implement such a treaty. Only by connecting data points across the supply chain and across jurisdictions can material flows and emission sources be fully understood.

Work towards INC-5 will continue in Busan, South Korea, in November, where the final text will be agreed upon before ratification in 2025.

For more information:

View additional multimedia and more ESG storytelling from SAP at 3blmedia.com.

Contact information:
Spokesperson: SAP
Website: https://www.3blmedia.com/profiles/sap
E-mail: (email protected)

SOURCE: JUICE