Policy approaches to incentivise sustainable plastic design

1. OECD GLOBAL FORUM ON SUSTAINABLE PLASTICS FROM A
CHEMICALS PERSPECTIVE
SESSION 5: POLICY APPROACHES TO INCENTIVISE
SUSTAINABLE PLASTIC DESIGN
NGO PERSPECTIVE
Stephane Arditi, Circular Economy Policy Manager
29-31 May, Copenhagen

2. p.2
EEB: WHO WE ARE
We stand for environmental
justice, sustainable
development and
participatory democracy.
Our aim is to ensure the EU
secures a healthy
environment and rich
biodiversity for all.

3. p.3
PRELIMINARY REMARKS
 A need for policy action: plastics will not detoxify spontaneously
A need for combination of instruments: voluntary actions work better
when enhancing regulatory and economic instruments, not as a stand
alone policy
Sustainability assessment should be ‘technology neutral’: similar rules
and criteria for all, but recognition of sustainable performances of
recycled or bio-based within the assessment system
Set the criteria and
measurement
system
Trigger market
transformation
Enforcement & Control

4. p.4
INTEGRATING DIFFERENT PLASTIC SUSTAINABILITY
DIMENSIONS IN A CONSISTENT SYSTEM
Legally binding (= cut off ) minimum requirements,
including mandatory disclosure of certain information
Integration in Extended producer responsibility scheme
(modulation)
Sustainable procurement criteria
Labels
of excellence
Based on a common set of metrics covering different dimensions e.g:
Hazardousness (= SoC contents)/ Exposure/ LCA-LCT profile/ Sourcing/ EoL management
E.g A Method for Assessing Greener Alternatives between Chemical Products
Following the 12 Principles of Green Chemistry.

5. p.5
NEED FOR AN INFORMATION/DISCLOSURE SYSTEM
Transparent information
for consumers/end users
Enhance market surveillance
Help setting relevant policy
Rules & incentives
Reduce overall burden
one central register
Foster sound competition
and differentiation
E.g: South Korea recent step towards an universal chemical tracking system
See: IPEN/EEB paper on full disclosure of chemical contents
See: Hazardous chemicals in plastic packaging: an initial analysis (Chemtrust)

6. p.6
ACCELERATE DETOXIFICATION & SUBSTITUTION
Process to restrict hazardous
substances in plastics is still slow
Safe and thoroughly assessed
substitutions to be ‘forced’ on the
market
Set same (chemicals) rules for virgin
and recycled plastics & if need for
derogation, these should be time
bounded, under strict conditions for
limited applications and labelled

7. p.7
WHAT FOR THE OECD?
Pressure for national authorities and corporate business to take sound decisions
in direction of detoxification, better design of products and integrated plastic
material management;
Work towards globally recognised metrics to assess and report sustainability of
plastics;
Contribute to develop an information and disclosure system that would benefit
all, including beyond OECD;
Continuously document best practices and associated results, including smart
combination of policy approaches & instruments.

8. THANK YOU!
Stephane.arditi@eeb.org
www.eeb.org
@Green_Europe
@EuropeanEnvironmentalBureau
eeb@eeb.org
The EEB gratefully acknowledges the financial support from the LIFE Programme of the European Union. This communication
reflects the organizers’ views and does not commit the donors.