INF/TE/IDP/RD/117 * 
 
24 February  2023 
(23-1316) Page: 1/3 
 Original: English/anglais/inglés  
 
  
UNOFFICIAL ROOM DOCUMENT1 
 
DIALOGUE ON PLASTICS POLLUTION AND  ENVIRONMENTALLY SUSTAINABLE 
PLASTICS TRADE  
STATEMENT BY PEW CHARITABLE TRUSTS  
Pre-Plenary Meeting – 16 February 2023  
 
 
DOCUMENT DE S ÉANCE NON OFFICIEL1 
 
DIALOGUE ON PLASTICS POLLUTION AND ENVIRONMENTALLY SUSTAINABLE 
PLASTICS TRADE  
STATEMENT BY PEW CHARITABLE TRUSTS  
Pre-Plenary Meeting – 16 February 2023  
 
 
DOCUMENTO DE SALA NO OF ICIAL1 
 
DIALOGUE ON PLASTICS POLLUTION AND  ENVIRONMENTALLY SUSTAINABLE 
PLASTICS TRADE  
STATEMENT BY PEW CHARITABLE TRUSTS  
Pre-Plenary Meeting – 16 February 2023  
_______________  
 
* In Original language only/En langue originale seulement/En el idioma original solamente.  
1 Documents issued in the RD series are not official WTO documents. They usually appear in their 
language of submission and will not be translated systematically into the working languages of the WTO. They 
are intended for use in  WTO meeting rooms and are attributed an unofficial symbol for archiving purposes only.  
Les documents de la série RD ne sont pas des documents officiels de l 'OMC. Ils ne paraissent 
généralement que dans la langue dans laquelle ils ont été communiqués et n e seront pas systématiquement 
traduits dans les langues de travail de l'OMC. Ils sont destinés aux salles de réunion de l'OMC et une cote non 
officielle leur est attribuée à des fins d'archivage.  
Los documentos de la serie RD no son documentos oficiales de  la OMC. Por lo general se distribuyen en 
el idioma en que han sido presentados y no se traduce n sistemáticamente a los idiomas de trabajo de la 
Organización. Se distribuyen para su uso en las salas de reunión de la OMC y se les asigna una signatura no 
oficial a efectos de archivo únicamente.  INF/TE/IDP/RD/117  
 
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  DIALOGUE ON PLASTICS POLLUTION AND ENVIRONMENTALLY SUSTAINABLE PLASTICS 
TRADE  
PEW' S INTERVENTION – 16 FEBRUARY 2023  
 
 
Agenda Item 3: Reduction to Tackle Plastic Pollution and Circular Economy for Plastics  
1. Thank you Chair for the opportunity to speak. The Pew Charitable Trusts appreciates the many 
informative presentations made today. We would particularly like to echo th e Minderoo 
Foundation on the importance of working on single use plastics and the importance of working 
with businesses to track their plastics footprint. According to Pew 's own research, published with 
Systemiq in Breaking the Plastic Wave  – it is possible to reduce plastic leakage by 80% by 2040 
using technologies we have today. This will require a system change approach – there is no 
silver bullet solution – and the WTO can be an important part of creating this systemic change.  
2. Further, o ur report shows that Five product types/applications contribute to 85% of all plastic 
leaking into the ocean today. These product types are: Mono -material films, carrier bags, bottles, 
sachets/multilayers, (all of which are single use plastics), the fifth type is household goods.  
3. Reducing single -use plastics will require, in many cases, not just material substitutes but entirely 
new business models – we need policy incentives to encourage the adoption of alternative 
materials, but also delivery models, and  end-of-life technologies. We hope we can work with the 
Dialogue to find policies that encourage uptake of these other models using trade policy.  
In terms of working with business  
 
4. Despite the scale of the plastic problem and extent of its impacts, many co mpanies still have a 
limited understanding and disclosure of their plastics usage, how they contribute to the plastic 
crisis and their exposure to commercial, legal, and reputational risks linked to their dependence 
on plastics across their value chains. A s a result, decision makers lack clear, comprehensive, 
comparable plastic -related data across the global economy. Voluntary disclosure on plastics at 
scale will be critical in bridging this gap.   
5. Pew is working with the Minderoo Foundation, The Ellen MacA rthur Foundation, and CDP 
(formerly the Carbon Disclosure Project), to expand CDP 's global environmental disclosure 
system to help solve the plastic pollution problem. This expansion will include questions and 
metrics on plastics, informed by existing fram eworks including the Ellen MacArthur and UNEP 's 
New Plastics Economy Global Commitment framework, providing decision makers with clear, 
comprehensive, and comparable data on the production, use and disposal of plastics across the 
global economy.  
6. Our goal is to build a plastics disclosure and reporting initiative that is comparable to carbon. It 
should inform companies of their plastics footprint, so where possible they can take informed 
decisions to reduce plastics consumption and create a circular economy  for plastics. It should 
also provide data for finance houses, investors, Governments, policy makers and the public of 
plastics consumption and usage so that they can make informed policy and investment decisions.  
7. Our collective ambition is to accelerate a circular economy for plastics, keeping plastics in the 
economy and out of the environment, restoring the health of our terrestrial, ocean and 
freshwater ecosystems.   
8.  Pew is available to discuss these issues further and looks forward to working with you  in the 
year ahead. Thank you.  
  
  
 Agenda Item 4: Promoting Trade to Tackle Plastic Pollution  
9. Thank you again for the opportunity to speak and to the presenters from BRS, QUNO, and 
UNCTAD for sharing their very interesting work.  INF/TE/IDP/RD/117  
 
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  10. The Pew Charitable Trusts  would echo the importance of environmentally sound management of 
plastic wastes. To reference our own work, our analyses in Breaking the Plastic Wave estimated 
that 22 % of global plastic waste is left uncollected; this figure could grow to 34 % by 2040 und er 
BAU. Closing the collection gap is one of the most critical interventions needed to achieve a 
meaningful reduction in plastic pollution.  
11. We also support the conclusions made in the QUNO report on "Package -Less and Reuse 
Systems ". Our own research showed  that it was socially, technically, and economically feasible 
to reduce business as usual plastic consumption by 30% by 2040 before considering switching 
to single -use substitute materials. This reduction included eliminating over -packaging (leading 
to an 8% reduction in plastic) and the use of new delivery, such as refill systems, (leading to an 
18% reduction in plastic).  
12. We especially appreciated how QUNO 's report looked at how trade measures, including non -
tariff measures could support package -less and reuse systems. We consider these to be essential 
levers to solving the plastic pollution problem and hope we can continue to discuss how best to 
implement these solutions in the months ahead.  
13. On substitutes and alternatives to plastics – these will be an i mportant part of the solution. 
Substitutes and alternatives can involve significant economic costs and will still need end -of-life 
disposal – so substitutes and plastic alternatives should be implemented after reducing levers 
such as reuse, and new deliver y models have been implemented. Substitutes should particularly 
be used for nonrecyclable items, and items likely to become pollution with high leakage rates.  
 
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