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Betsy Bowers, the head of the Expanded Polystyrene Industry Alliance, came to the Paris talks in listening mode and to react to early calls in the treaty discussions to include EPS packaging on a list of banned or problematic plastic materials.

The group, which represents companies that make EPS packaging used in consumer products like electronics, is closely monitoring treaty discussions around extended producer responsibility laws and is interested in how depot collection programs like those being considered under Oregon’s EPR law could be used elsewhere.

Ed Shepherd offers the perspective of the Business Coalition for a Global Plastics Treaty, which wants the agreement to reduce plastics made from virgin fossil fuels and identify problematic plastics or products that can be eliminated.

The coalition is made up of major consumer brand companies like Unilever, where Shepherd works, as well as financial institutions and some global plastic packaging companies. He argues that the expected growth in virgin plastic production in coming years could make it very hard to meet the objectives of the treaty, without strong action.

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Ed Shepherd offers the perspective of the Business Coalition for a Global Plastics Treaty, which wants the agreement to reduce plastics made from virgin fossil fuels and identify problematic plastics or products that can be eliminated.

The coalition is made up of major consumer brand companies like Unilever, where Shepherd works, as well as financial institutions and some global plastic packaging companies. He argues that the expected growth in virgin plastic production in coming years could make it very hard to meet the objectives of the treaty, without strong action.

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Flexible plastic packaging has recycling challenges but is popular in the marketplace, protecting food while being lightweight and reducing other environmental impacts.

Graham Houlder, the director of the European industry group Ceflex, said they want to see the treaty endorse extended producer responsibility legislation and global packaging design standards to deal with recycling challenges. The prominence of flexibles like pouches on grocery shelves — it packages about half the food in Europe and elsewhere — suggests the treaty will have to consider the packaging format.

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When we recorded this interview at the Paris talks, Joshua Baca was vice president of plastics at the American Chemistry Council. A few weeks later he left the ACC, but we decided to keep the interview for its perspective on the negotiations.

Baca talked about the need to expand waste management systems to 3 billion people around the world who don’t have it, improve the “pretty broken” U.S. recycling system and have the treaty recognize the role plastics will play in meeting the U.N.’s sustainable development goals and enabling products that decarbonize the economy.

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Plastic recycling companies see the treaty as a “huge” opportunity to bring change and help struggling plastics recycling markets.

Kate Bailey, the chief policy officer for the Association of Plastic Recyclers in the United States, hopes the treaty can push adoption of extended producer responsibility laws and design for recycling. As well, Bailey said the treaty is moving beyond recycling into plastics and chemical health concerns.

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Matt Seaholm, president and CEO of the Plastics Industry Association in Washington, wants the treaty to have “ambitious yet reasonable” goals and be something that the U.S. government can agree to.

For his association, that means no caps or bans on plastic production and a focus on reducing plastic pollution in the environment. Seaholm also discussed the group’s support for recycled content requirements and why they see it as important that the treaty recognize advanced, or chemical, recycling of plastics.

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