Here’s what the government plans to do about plastic pollution
Global Plastic Treaty reached a deadlock in August, but South Africa is pushing ahead with regulations
Our final video in a six-part series discusses the collapse of talks to reach a global plastics treaty, and the South African government’s plans to regulate plastics. Video by Carol Albertyn Christie
- South African Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment Dion George has published draft regulations for the banning of plastic microbeads, and plans to start phasing out single-use plastics.
- This comes a month after the negotiations for a global plastics treaty reached a deadlock in Geneva.
- The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) South Africa has also expressed its disappointment with the breakdown of the negotiations but welcomed the South African government’s plans.
The South African government is moving ahead with plastic regulations, despite the collapse of global plastic treaty negotiations in Geneva. Plastic microbeads are being banned, and there are plans to phase out single-use plastics. Plastic producers are also being held to account for the full plastics “lifecycle”, the government says.
In August, talks in Geneva by 180 countries participating in the UN Environmental Programme’s Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC) for a global plastics treaty ended without consensus.
The proposed treaty would have been legally binding under international law, mandating urgent action on the growing threat of plastic pollution. It would have covered the entire plastics “lifecycle”, from production to waste management.
An estimated 11 million tonnes of plastic waste enter the world’s oceans each year. In South Africa, about 80,000 tonnes of plastic leak into the oceans and rivers every year. 70% of our plastic waste is collected, of which 14% is recycled. There is growing concern over the impact of microplastics on human health.
The first INC session was held in November 2022 and aimed to conclude by 2024. But talks reached a deadlock, and the countries reconvened in Geneva, Switzerland, in August this year.
These talks too fell apart after two proposals were rejected, mainly because of a dispute over “whether the treaty should focus solely on plastic waste reduction or address the entire plastic lifecycle”, according to the World Economic Forum. A minority of countries outright rejected the proposal for caps on plastic production.
Unless a full consensus is reached, there is no treaty.
“Had the process been managed differently, I do think that we could’ve got an outcome. It would not have been a very ambitious one, but I do think it was possible for us to get to at least step one,” said Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment Dion George in an interview with GroundUp.
There were conflicting views among countries, and some nations did “not want any kind of agreement for various reasons of their own,” said George.
He believes the negotiations needed a kind of “deadlock-breaking mechanism”. If it can’t be a vote, then they could look at a “mediation process” that allows parties to sit down and find agreements, he said.
Zaynab Sadan, World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) South Africa’s Global Plastics Lead, raised similar concerns about the negotiations, adding that a small group of states with “fossil fuel interests” have been stalling the negotiations.
Those countries want regulations that focus only on waste management and “don’t actually address the root cause of plastic pollution, which is the high volumes of plastic that are being produced and … plastics being produced with harmful and toxic chemicals included in them,” said Sadan.
It was clear after six negotiating rounds that “consensus at all-costs decision-making” is not working. Sadan suggested that when the INC sessions resume, they could call for a vote. “The only way that things will change is if they are willing to prepare for a vote.”
She also suggested that those countries that were willing to adopt a treaty do so in a separate meeting, or that a treaty be tabled before and voted on by the UN General Assembly.
Local plastics regulations
Recently, George published draft regulations which would prohibit the production, sale, import, and export of microbeads and products containing them. Microbeads are found in products such as cosmetics and toiletries.
The regulations “mark a significant stride in the nation’s battle against plastic pollution”, the Department of Forestries, Fisheries and the Environment said in a statement. Non-compliance could lead to severe penalties, including fines or imprisonment.
The government also plans to phase out single-use plastics.
Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment Dion George. Photo: Ashraf Hendricks
George told GroundUp that there are plans to tighten up extended producer responsibility – regulations aimed at holding plastic producers responsible for plastics’ entire life cycle.
“We then want to make sure that throughout the entire cycle the producer remains responsible, so that if it’s going to be a pollutant, if it’s going to end up piled up somewhere, there has to be a consequence,” he said.
George reckons that South Africa’s efforts, especially once single-use plastics are phased out, put the country “ahead of the curve” dealing with plastic.
“If you look, for example, at what happened at the discussions in Geneva, South Africa has a momentum that many other nations don’t have,” he said.
Sadan welcomed the department’s ban on microbeads and the move towards banning single-use plastics. Banning microbeads was “low-hanging fruit”, Sadan said. “We know these microplastics are actually a very direct source entering our water systems,” she said.
But while the government is taking an ambitious approach to phasing out certain plastics, it does not support capping plastic production because it was not economically viable to just “switch off an industry”.
“We’ve got to be very mindful of the fact that we are a developing economy country,” said George.
He said that the younger generation is very animated about the environment they’re living in. “It’s good to see that the societal push is very strong. The societal push across the world is that we do not want this pollution. We do not want to see the plastic inside of our animals and inside of us. It’s not acceptable.”
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