Under the Biden-Harris administration, the United States, a leading global producer of plastics, will now back a global treaty aimed at curbing the annual production of new plastics, which is expected to decrease U.S. manufacturing output. Initially, the U.S. favored a framework where individual nations would devise their own strategies, akin to the Paris Agreement, rather than imposing production limits, which was the European negotiators’ preference. This shift from a more decentralized approach to a global production cap places the U.S. in direct opposition to countries like Saudi Arabia and China. Those countries have argued that the UN treaty, which negotiators are scheduled to conclude at a November summit in Busan, South Korea, should ignore questions of production and focus on downstream measures, such as encouraging recycling and changing packaging design.
This policy adjustment aligns the United States more closely with a coalition of “so-called high ambition countries” that includes not only EU member states but also South Korea, Canada, Rwanda, and Peru. The group has also targeted a list of chemicals used in plastic production that they say should be eliminated. The United States now supports creating a global list of chemicals and setting global criteria to identify those chemicals that should be considered “avoidable plastic products” to phase out.
The debate over whether a UN treaty should include production limits has been heated, with major plastic and petrochemical producers like Saudi Arabia and China obstructing discussions on production caps. They argue that the focus should remain on less controversial issues, such as managing plastic waste. Over the past 15 years, China has significantly driven global plastic demand. Despite some bans on single-use products starting in 2019, China accounted for half of the 15 million metric tons of new production capacity added between 2019 and 2021. Sinopec, a major Chinese company, is expected to build new facilities through 2027, adding over 5 million metric tons of annual capacity. Although China’s production growth is predicted to slow, the country still leads half of the top 20 companies planning to expand their virgin polymer capacity by 2027. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia is backing its state-owned oil company, Saudi Aramco, which plans to channel nearly one-third of its oil output to petrochemical production for plastics by 2030.
The American Chemistry Council (ACC) believes the Biden-Harris administration “caved” to the interests of environmental groups’ demands. Although the ACC supports a global treaty on plastics, it opposes any measures involving production caps or chemical restrictions. Chris Jahn, the ACC president, stated, “The administration’s new stance on supporting plastic production limits and regulating chemicals through the UN Plastics Agreement indicates a willingness to compromise U.S. manufacturing interests and the numerous jobs it sustains.” The petrochemical sector contends that production caps would lead to increased consumer prices. They advocate for a treaty focused on managing plastics after production, emphasizing the importance of promoting reuse and recycling technologies, such as converting plastic into fuel. Their focus is on encouraging the reuse or recycling of plastics, including deploying technology that can turn plastic into fuel and they argue that companies should be allowed to disclose the chemicals used in production voluntarily.
These policy changes by the Biden-Harris administration come ahead of an upcoming meeting in Bangkok, which will coincide with ongoing treaty negotiations later this month. They follow the recent announcement of new U.S. policies aimed at combating plastic pollution. The White House revealed plans to phase out the use of single-use plastics from all federal operations by 2035, with a target to stop federal procurement of such plastics for food services, events, and packaging by 2027. This policy will affect a wide range of federal facilities, from park concession stands to military feeding operations. The new goal would supposedly be met by selecting reusable, compostable, and highly recyclable products in lieu of single-use plastics in food service. The move comes after the Biden-Harris administration’s 2022 decision to phase out single-use plastics in national parks and public land. The Biden-Harris administration also unveiled a new strategy, detailed in an 83-page document, targeting plastic pollution at the stages of production, processing, use, and disposal.
According to the White House, the new procurement policies are the latest effort aimed at addressing plastic pollution that has included several policies to tackle fossil-fuel intensive polymer production, recycling and removing plastic that has washed up in oceans. The Biden-Harris Environmental Protection Agency has issued rules to limit emissions from the production of chemicals used to make plastic, and plans to spend $275 million to improve recycling infrastructure. Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland has also issued Secretary’s Order 3407 to reduce single-use plastic products and packaging within the Department of the Interior, aiming for a phase-out by 2032. To promote this effort, the interior department is installing more water bottle filling stations on public lands and working with concessionaires to reduce single-use plastics. Vice President Kamala Harris has called for the banning of plastic straws.
Limiting plastics production and use is consistent with the Biden-Harris Administration’s opposition to oil and gas, from which plastics are made. The Administration has taken over 225 actions designed to make it more difficult or impossible to create more oil and gas. Since plastics are a building block of modern economies, focusing on plastic waste which is visible but for which the United States and other advanced countries are not primarily responsible would assist the Biden-Harris Administration in its stated goal to “end fossil fuels.”
Conclusion
Plastics are versatile and are used in many industries from health to food storage. Limiting their production in order to deal with single-use plastic waste pollution is like attacking a nail with a sledge hammer. But politics in the EU and the United States is moving in that direction daily with regulations and edicts on what Americans are allowed to buy, what fuels can run their vehicles, what fuels can produce electricity, what fuels can heat their homes and what fuels they are allowed to cook with. Under the Biden-Harris administration’s mandates, the market will no longer be able to determine what technology and sources are best for Americans.
In 2019, then-U.S. Senator, Kamala Harris participated in a CNN townhall focused on climate change. When asked if the federal government should ban single-use plastics, this was her answer.
*This article was adapted from content originally published by the Institute for Energy Research.