Circular (Economy) Reasoning Newsletter #002

Alright folks... buckle up. The sixth negotiating meeting toward a Global Plastics Treaty is officially underway in Geneva, Switzerland.

Well, sort of. 🤔 Technically, it’s INC 5.2—so calling it the sixth might be a bit of a misnomer. Is it the five-point-second? The five-point-2th? Part Five: Part Deux? For your sake, dear reader, I’ll just refer to it as the sixth. It’ll only get confusing if negotiations drag on long enough to require a real INC 6. We'll cross that bridge when we get there.

Anyway, I had the good fortune of attending both the fourth and fifth negotiating sessions in Ottawa and Busan, respectively. The process is fascinating—for those of us who love:

• Mind-numbing bureaucracy

• Delegates from some countries spewing bald-faced lies

• Delegates from other countries constantly raising process questions to stall progress

• Wandering the host city while waiting for something—anything—to happen

• Oh, and don’t forget all the behind-closed-door meetings where the actual negotiations go down.

I’m only partially kidding. But also, I’m genuinely sad not to be there. What happens in Geneva this week could, in theory, change the course of history. More likely? It won’t. But I’ll use this newsletter to share what I hope happens—and who you should follow to keep tabs on the action.

What would a good outcome look like?

The UN treaty process is based on consensus. That means any final agreement must be acceptable to both the countries pushing for bold action (like Small Island Nations, many African and Central American countries) and those pushing for the status quo (looking at you, Russia and Saudi Arabia).

Given what we’ve seen in the previous five sessions, it’s hard to imagine a strong treaty that everyone signs onto. That’s just the unfortunate reality of consensus diplomacy.

It also remains to be seen how the United States will show up this time. For context:

• INC 1–4: Negotiated by Biden’s State Department.

• INC 5: Negotiated by the same State Department—but post-Trump 2024 victory.

• INC 6: Now negotiated by a U.S. delegation that's outwardly hostile toward multilateralism.

In other words, it’d be a shock if the U.S. plays a meaningfully positive role in this round.

Case in point: According to Reuters, the U.S. recently sent a memo to other nations stating, “We will not support impractical global approaches such as plastic production targets or bans and restrictions on plastic additives or plastic products—that will increase the costs of all plastic products that are used throughout our daily lives.”

So yeah... expectations are low. But here’s what I’d love to see in an ideal world (aka an alternate reality).

• A global reduction in plastic production, especially for non-essential single-use items and problematic materials with hazardous additives, toxic monomers, or harmful degradation products.

• A phased ban on problematic plastics, supported by a clear list of unnecessary plastic products. (No, I won’t share what I’d put on that list if I were king—some of it might be too radical.)

• A global funding mechanism to support waste and recycling infrastructure in the Global South. The Global North has been exporting its trash for decades—time to fund the recovery.

• Design criteria for circularity, emphasizing reuse, recyclability, and durability to reduce plastic leakage into the environment.

• Explicit protections for disproportionately affected populations, including fenceline communities, Indigenous groups, coastal nations, and others.

Sounds reasonable, right?

To be fair, this list aligns closely with what WWF , Greenpeace , the Business For A Plastics Treaty, and the High Ambition Coalition to End Plastic Pollution are calling for.

But let’s be honest: The only way the world gets anything close to this is if the high-ambition nations break off and form their own agreement—leaving the so-called "Like-Minded Countries" behind.

Who to follow during negotiations:

• WWF Sustainability Works

• Ellen MacArthur Foundation

• Business For A Plastics Treaty

• Magnus Løvold or on X/Twitter

• Packaging Europe

I’ll also be getting updates directly from folks on the ground in Geneva and will share them here in my feed as they come in.

Let me know what you’re watching—or hoping for—from this round of negotiations. And if you're in Geneva… I’m jealous.