Plastic pollution is a pressing environmental challenge that knows no borders. As governments negotiate the first international treaty on plastic pollution, ICC is working to ensure business perspectives are reflected. We advocate for a treaty that is workable, effective and capable of driving the transition to a circular and resilient global economy.
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It damages ecosystems, harms communities and weakens natural systems that support economies.
The adoption of the United Nation Environment Assembly (UNEA) Resolution 5/14 marked a historic turning point, whereby countries agreed to negotiate a legally binding global agreement to end plastic pollution.
Through the Intergovernmental Negotiation Committee (INC) process, governments, businesses and civil society are working to build the first international framework capable of driving systemic change across the plastic value chain.
ICC, representing businesses of all sizes and industries, has been engaged from the outset to ensure the agreement can drive real-world impact and work in practice. We are focused on securing a treaty that sets clear direction, attracts investment and creates the frameworks needed to beat plastic pollution and build a more circular, resilient and sustainable economy.
Better packaging starts with better data. As packaging regulations multiply and reporting requirements grow more complex, many businesses still rely on fragmented systems and spreadsheets to manage critical packaging information. In this interview with SAP, we explore how connected data can help companies move beyond compliance, enabling smarter design decisions, reducing costs and identifying opportunities for circularity.
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How can we turn waste into value and build circular economy markets?
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How can we scale innovation in plastics alternatives?
The scale of plastic pollution demands solutions that are both effective and workable. Policy measures must prioritise plastic products and applications with the highest proven risk of environmental leakage – that is, plastics escaping into nature due to poor waste management. This should be done using common, evidence-based and application-specific frameworks to continuously improve waste management and circularity. These efforts should also account for national circumstances, technical capacity and socio-economic realities to ensure actions are fair, effective and practical to implement.
A supportive, enabling environment is necessary to ensure everyone can contribute effectively to ending plastic pollution. This includes robust capacity building efforts and a strong financial mechanism capable of turning treaty commitments into concrete action.
The treaty must also encourage the broadest possible uptake, particularly among micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), which represent around 90% of businesses globally and hold enormous potential for meaningful impact. These firms are often at the forefront of innovative solutions – from biodegradable materials and reusable product designs to new recycling technologies – but they will require well-designed enabling frameworks to support their transition to a circular plastics economy.
Targeted financial incentives, calibrated fiscal interventions to improve access to finance, and support for research and development will all be important, alongside phased implementation, shared infrastructure, education and awareness-raising. To help ensure these specific needs are reflected in the negotiations, ICC convened regional MSME Dialogues to bring the perspectives of smaller enterprises directly into the process and to advocate for a treaty that sets a workable trajectory and brings all stakeholders along.
ICC Global Environment and Energy Commission
Raelene Martin, Global Policy Head – Sustainability
Daniel Grajales, Global Policy Manager – Environment
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Align ambition with economic reality to deliver real impact across the plastics value chain
Ensure measures are practical, implementable and viable for all economies and business sizes
Promote innovation and circular design, and transform how plastics are made, used and recovered
Tackling plastic pollution will require more than better waste management. In this interview, Alfa Laval shares why innovation in alternative materials must be matched by industrial scale-up, investment and cross-value chain collaboration. Drawing on its partnership with RWDC Industries, the discussion explores how businesses can bridge the gap between promising technologies and commercial deployment, and why harmonised frameworks under a future Global Plastics Treaty can help accelerate the transition to a more circular economy.
Better packaging starts with better data. As packaging regulations multiply and reporting requirements grow more complex, many businesses still rely on fragmented systems and spreadsheets to manage critical packaging information. In this interview with SAP, we explore how connected data can help companies move beyond compliance, enabling smarter design decisions, reducing costs and identifying opportunities for circularity.
The International Chamber of Commerce has issued the following statement at the conclusion of the latest round of intergovernmental negotiations on a proposed UN plastics treaty:
At the mid-point of the ongoing UN plastics treaty negotiations in Geneva, the International Chamber of Commerce has issued the following statement:
On behalf of global business, the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) stressed the urgent need to conclude an effective and workable agreement on plastic pollution at the opening plenary of the second part of the fifth meeting of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC-5.2). The negotiations resumed in Geneva, Switzerland, after parties failed to agree on a legally binding global plastics treaty in December 2024.
In a joint Business Call to Action more than 80 businesses and supporting organisations from 25 countries, including 55 businesses representing over €600 billion in turnover and 2 million employees, urged both private and public decisions-makers to strengthen global cooperation and accelerate action to conserve and sustainably use the ocean.
ICC's closing plenary statement delivered to the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC-5) on plastic pollution in Busan, South Korea
The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) has called on governments to secure an ambitious, workable, effective and inclusive agreement at the last negotiating round of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC-5) in Busan – one that rallies all actors of society, including the business community, in the collective charge to end plastic pollution and that sets the frame and direction for accelerated business action.
This policy brief takes a deep dive into the potential of the circular economy and the role of innovation in waste management with a focus on challenges in shipping waste for research purposes. It includes case studies that demonstrate how current laws and regulations impact company investments in circular innovations.
This paper sets out ICC’s business recommendations for the development of an ambitious, effective and workable legally binding instrument (LBI) to end plastic pollution, as an Ad hoc Open-Ended Working Group is meeting in Dakar from 29 May to 1 June 2022 to start the work on this issue.
