III 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. RES. 893 

Expressing the sense of the Senate regarding the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee on Plastic Pollution’s development of an international 

binding agreement, which is expected to be completed at its Fifth Session 

in Busan, Republic of Korea in December 2024. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

NOVEMBER 13, 2024 

Mr. CARDIN submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 

Committee on Foreign Relations 

RESOLUTION 

Expressing the sense of the Senate regarding the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee on Plastic Pollution’s 

development of an international binding agreement, 

which is expected to be completed at its Fifth Session 

in Busan, Republic of Korea in December 2024. 

Whereas the production of plastic polymers releases pollutants that degrade air quality, water quality, and soil 

health and contribute to increased health and environmental risks to nearby communities, biodiversity, and the 

wider environment; 

Whereas the chemical makeup of plastics mostly consists of 

extracted hydrocarbons and synthetic chemicals that are 

processed to form polymers, which enables plastic mateVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:11 Nov 14, 2024 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR893.IS SR893

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rials to be easily molded and shaped when heat and pressure is applied; 

Whereas plastic materials and products have unique, 

versatile, and convenient applications, but plastic polymers, chemicals, and waste products are extremely harmful when leaked into the natural environment, including 

marine environments; 

Whereas discarded plastic waste materials, particularly plastic products designed or applied as single-use or disposable, which are most commonly used in packaging, utensils, flatware, beverage and other liquid containers, and 

plastic film, are ubiquitous and are products that comprise the highest volumes of plastic pollution in the environment; 

Whereas plastic pollution occurs when— 

(1) plastic is deposited intentionally or unintentionally into the environment; 

(2) plastic particles are shed from plastic products 

during production or use; 

(3) plastic fibers are released during the routine 

washing of synthetic textiles; 

(4) waste and discarded plastic products escape from 

waste management streams and wastewater treatment 

systems; 

(5) plastic is mishandled or is littered into the environment; and 

(6) there is inadequate mitigation and management 

of emissions, polymers, and byproducts from plastic 

chemical refining, manufacturing, and transport processes; 

Whereas less than 9 percent of plastics discarded in the 

United States is recycled; 


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Whereas, according to the United Nations Environment Programme, 430,000,000 metric tons of plastic are produced 

annually worldwide; 

Whereas plastic breaks down into microplastics that— 

(1) become ubiquitous in the environment; 

(2) are easily ingestible by marine life where plastic 

enters the food web; 

(3) are increasingly found in ambient air, drinking 

water supplies, food crops, and animal proteins; 

(4) can persist for centuries; and 

(5) can be inhaled or ingested by humans; 

Whereas the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals 

estimate that between 19,000,000 and 23,000,000 tons 

of plastic annually leaks into aquatic ecosystems, such as 

lakes, rivers, and seas; 

Whereas a 2021 National Academies of Sciences study found 

that the United States annually contributes between 

1,000,000 and 2,000,000 metric tons of plastic pollution 

into the environment; 

Whereas abandoned, lost, or otherwise discarded fishing gear 

(also known as ‘ghost gear’) is a deadly form of pollution 

to marine species in our ocean, and is often made of plastics; 

Whereas plastic pollutants, including microplastics, pose significant threat to human health, including fetal development, endocrine disruption, liver and kidney disease, and 

brain and neural development, through— 

(1) inhalation, dermal exposure, and ingestion of 

contaminated food or beverages; and 

(2) the use of degrading plastic containers, utensils, 

and flatware; 


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Whereas inland waterways and coastal communities that are 

dependent on healthy fisheries, safe and hazard free maritime channels, tourism, secure property values, and safe 

recreation, are negatively affected by plastic pollution and 

marine debris, which impairs economic growth and economic opportunity; 

Whereas achieving circularity in the full lifecycle of polymer 

production, plastic product manufacturing, and the handling, processing, recycling, and disposal of post-consumer plastic waste through sustainable recycling processes in which plastic materials are manufactured to be 

durable, repairable, reusable and fully and safely recyclable, would significantly reduce the negative impacts of 

plastic; 

Whereas the accumulation of marine debris and plastic pollution in the oceans— 

(1) are navigational hazards; 

(2) cause significant damage to vessels; and 

(3) disrupt maritime transportation; 

Whereas least developed countries face considerable waste 

management capacity constraints due, in part, to exports 

of plastic and plastic waste from other countries, inadequate infrastructure, collection costs, and the lack of a 

responsible end-market for recovered and recycled plastics, all of which weaken such countries’ ability to responsibly manage plastic waste; 

Whereas existing plastic substitutes, such as bamboo, natural 

fibers, aluminum, paper, and wax, could cut plastic waste 

by 17 percent by 2040; 

Whereas 96 countries have enacted more than 225 national 

laws to address plastic pollution and marine debris; 


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Whereas in 2023, the United States Agency for International 

Development estimated that its Save Our Seas initiative 

has prevented the equivalent of nearly 8,000,000,000 

plastic bottles (or more than 73,500 metric tons) from 

polluting the environment though its work in Peru, the 

Dominican Republic, Kenya, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, the Philippines, Fiji, Micronesia, and Papua New 

Guinea; 

Whereas several States and municipalities in the United 

States have imposed a variety of localized measures to 

curb single-use plastics, including— 

(1) bans or taxes on single-use shopping bags; 

(2) bans on plastic straws and plastic utensils provided at restaurants and grocery stores; 

(3) restrictions on the use of non-recyclable plastic 

in single-use applications; 

(4) support for reusable infrastructure, such as dinein establishments or water-refill stations; 

(5) zero-waste targets and plans, including reduction 

requirements for single-use plastics; 

(6) requirements for plastic product redesign, including for reuse and recycling; and 

(7) extended producer responsibility requirements 

for producers of single-use plastics; 

Whereas best available science, including the latest modeling, 

points to plastic reduction, is essential to ending plastic 

pollution; 

Whereas the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee on 

Plastic Pollution, operating under the framework of the 

United Nations Environment Programme and tasked 

with developing an international legally binding instruVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:50 Nov 14, 2024 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR893.IS SR893

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ment on plastic pollution, consists of several groups of 

countries, including— 

(1) the High Ambition Coalition to End Plastic Production, which is a group of 65 countries, co-chaired by 

Norway and Rwanda, which supports an agreement 

aimed at ending plastic pollution by 2040 by— 

(A) restraining global plastic consumption and 

production; 

(B) developing a circular economy for plastics 

that protects the environment and human’s health; 

and 

(C) environmentally sound management and recycling of plastic waste; and 

(2) the Like-Minded Countries Group, led by Saudi 

Arabia, Russia, Iran, and other oil producing countries, 

which supports a more limited agreement focusing on— 

(A) improvements to recycling and waste management systems; and 

(B) allowing countries to determine their own 

targets for plastic pollution reduction; 

Whereas the draft agreement text proposes articles addressing the full lifecycle of plastics, including microplastics 

and nanoplastics, and extended producer responsibility; 

Whereas the United States submission at the Fourth Session 

of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee on Plastic Pollution called for an agreement that— 

(A) addresses plastic’s harm to human health 

and the environment, including marine environment; 

(B) incrementally reduces the demand for plastics; 


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(C) creates environmentally sound waste management practices; 

(D) supports research into alternative plastic 

products and plastic substitutes; and 

(E) establishes an international governing body; 

Whereas the Parties have considerable work to do before 

reaching an agreement on comprehensive and impactful 

provisions that address— 

(1) the lifecycle of plastic pollution; 

(2) the effects of plastic pollution on human health, 

particularly vulnerable communities proximate to the 

sources of plastic pollution; and 

(3) the development of science-based targets and 

timelines for ending plastic pollution; 

Whereas the United States has a responsibility to play an important leadership role in the negotiations to convene 

parties and build consensus towards an effective new 

binding international agreement regarding plastic pollution; and 

Whereas the Fifth Session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee on Plastic Pollution will focus on refining and seeking consensus on the text for the adoption 

of a new comprehensive internationally legally binding 

agreement to address plastic pollution: 

Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That it is the sense of the Senate that the 

2 United States must— 

3 (1) work towards the achievement of a new 

4 international agreement to address plastic pollution 

5 that— 


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1 (A) protects human health and the envi2 ronment; and 

3 (B) mitigates the risks plastic pollution 

4 has on global economic activity and public safe5 ty; 

6 (2) continue to play a critical leadership role in 

7 developing an ambitious international agreement 

8 that seeks to end plastic pollution consistent with 

9 United Nations Resolution 5/14; 

10 (3) advance outcomes and objectives in the ne11 gotiations that clearly support the economic, diplo12 matic, technological advantage, public health, safety, 

13 and security interests of the United States; 

14 (4) seek to build consensus among stakeholders, 

15 while encouraging civil society representatives, labor, 

16 scientific subject matter experts, and impacted com17 mercial and industrial sectors to cooperate towards 

18 achieving the most ambitious agreement possible 

19 with respect to reducing plastic pollution; 

20 (5) help convene and facilitate, whenever appro21 priate, discussions within the Intergovernmental Ne22 gotiating Committee on Plastic Pollution to bring 

23 the international community towards a unified and 

24 comprehensive international agreement; 


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1 (6) oppose certain parties’ efforts to delay 

2 progress towards such an agreement; 

3 (7) ensure that all countries realize a shared re4 sponsibility to address global plastic pollution; 

5 (8) consider pursuing an initial agreement that 

6 takes a ‘‘Start and Strengthen’’ approach to ad7 dressing plastic pollution by identifying critical pol8 icy areas for phasing down and phasing out plastic 

9 pollution, with the clear intention to strengthen and 

10 increase the ambition of the agreement over time; 

11 (9) work to ensure that the obligations, goals, 

12 targets, and preferred approaches described in the 

13 final agreement to reduce plastic pollution are sup14 ported by the best available science, which should 

15 also determine the scope and scale of global plastic 

16 pollution that the agreement will aim to solve; 

17 (10) insist that the new binding international 

18 agreement applies obligations to all parties and pro19 vides parties sufficient flexibility to determine their 

20 own policies and measures to address their contribu21 tions of plastic pollution, including microplastics, 

22 into the environment; 

23 (11) work to ensure that the financial mecha24 nism has an expanded donor base that— 

25 (A) reflects current economic realities; and 


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1 (B) prioritizes support for countries with 

2 limited technical and financial capacity to im3 plement the agreement; and 

4 (12) prioritize the inclusion of strong trans5 parency and accountability procedures and mecha6 nisms that will ensure the effectiveness of actions 

7 taken by each party to the agreement. 

Æ 


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