As concerns increase over the magnitude and impact of plastic pollution across the globe, efforts to identify solutions are gaining momentum. Governments, businesses, civil society and other stakeholders are pursuing new initiatives in varying configurations across domestic, regional and global settings.
This paper is intended to inform discussion on the role that international cooperation on standards can play in supporting global efforts to end plastic pollution. It starts with a brief overview of existing standards and standard-setting processes. In doing so, the paper seeks to clarify some of the confusion about the terminology of “standards” by separating and describing three categories of instruments that are described by the different actors as standards.
It concludes by outlining issues and priorities for international cooperation on the development and implementation of standards across the full life cycle of plastics, noting how these can be taken up in processes such as the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee, WTO Dialogue on Plastics Pollution and Environmentally Sustainable Plastics Trade, and ongoing work of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and other standard-setting processes.