As negotiations continue in Geneva over the draft United Nations Plastics Treaty, Articles 8–10 are receiving attention for their focus on managing existing plastic waste and protecting affected communities. These sections address legacy pollution, reforms to waste management systems, and support for workers impacted by plastics.
Article 8 centers on environmentally sound management of plastic waste. It references standards from the Basel Convention and urges countries to build infrastructure for safe handling, sorting, collection, recycling, and disposal of plastics. The article also calls for circular economy approaches and sets out targets to improve collection and recycling rates while prohibiting practices such as open dumping, burning, and ocean disposal. Protections for workers in the informal sector—including women, youth, and small-scale fishers—are emphasized. Developed countries are expected to stop exporting plastic waste to developing nations.
Article 9 asks governments to identify areas most affected by plastic pollution within their borders or across regions. Governments should take steps to remove pollution using methods that minimize harm to people and ecosystems. This includes aligning with international agreements, using current science and technology, and incorporating Indigenous knowledge.
Article 10 highlights a just transition as countries adopt new plastic policies. It urges governments to consider national priorities while including both formal and informal sector workers in manufacturing, waste picking, fishing, and small businesses.
Governments have several options under these articles: creating national strategies that target both existing and future plastic pollution; identifying hotspots; strengthening waste management systems; and banning harmful practices like open dumping or burning. According to the World Bank, over 90% of waste in low-income countries is either burned openly or dumped at unregulated sites—a sign of major gaps in collection and disposal infrastructure (https://datatopics.worldbank.org/what-a-waste/trends_in_solid_waste_management.html). Additionally, China’s National Sword policy from 2018 banned imports of most plastic waste. This exposed weaknesses in global recycling systems as exports shifted toward countries with less capacity for processing.
Efforts are also needed to formally include informal workers who often face barriers such as registration requirements or tax compliance issues. Fragmented governance can complicate these efforts further.
For private companies—especially those producing or selling plastics—Articles 8–10 mean expanded responsibilities. Firms may need to finance extended producer responsibility systems or help build recycling infrastructure. Germany’s Dual System (Green Dot) provides an example: producers fund recovery through a national scheme that raised mechanical recycling rates for packaging plastics from 42.1% in 2018 to nearly 69% by 2023 (https://www.gruener-punkt.de/en/company/press/detail/news/german-packaging-act-recycling-rates-for-plastic-packaging-in-germany-continue-to-rise). In Colombia, large brands have worked with informal cooperatives under similar schemes to formalize work roles.
Transparency about environmental and social impacts will become increasingly important as treaty rules take effect.
To prepare for this transition:
– Governments and businesses should assess current waste management capacity through gap analyses.
– Collection networks must expand coverage into underserved urban areas.
– Existing landfill sites should be evaluated for risks like leachate or open burning; remediation might involve capping or controlled closure.
– Extended producer responsibility regulations should be strengthened so producers bear more responsibility for post-consumer plastics.
– Public education campaigns can help consumers understand proper disposal methods.
RTI International has supported projects around diagnostics of waste systems, public-private partnership development, inclusive collection strategies involving local governments or NGOs, landfill risk assessments using GIS tools, piloting reuse models, buy-back schemes for plastics, and tools like MSW-DST that track city-level waste volumes.
“As the plastics treaty takes shape, Articles 8–10 will be key to ensuring that waste is managed responsibly, pollution is cleaned up, and people are at the center of the transition. If you’re working on these challenges or looking for a partner to support implementation, we invite you to connect with us.”
