Standards and the International Standardization Landscape: Relevance to Plastics

The document analyzes the role of standards in addressing plastics pollution, mapping existing efforts by organizations like ISO, CEN, and ASTM. It argues that current standards are fragmented, largely voluntary, and industry-driven, failing to cover the entire plastics value chain. The author proposes a shift toward a circular economy framework, the introduction of digital materials passports, and the reduction of material variety to improve recyclability. Finally, it suggests that a global treaty on plastic pollution could provide the necessary legal and policy framework to make these standards effective and comprehensive.

• Current plastics standards are fragmented and do not provide a comprehensive set of tools for combating pollution across the entire value chain, from design to end-of-life, nor do they serve as consistent indicators for measuring progress.
• Standards are primarily voluntary instruments developed by industry players; they cannot solve plastics pollution without government-defined priorities, roadmaps, and complementary regulatory frameworks.
• ISO/TC 61, established in 1947, has published over 700 standards, with Subcommittee 14 (SC 14) specifically focusing on environmental and sustainability aspects such as bio-based plastics, biodegradability, and microplastics since 2017.
• A mapping of standards against the plastics value chain reveals that while material content and environmental behavior are well-covered, areas such as the design of products for recycling, reuse of plastic products, and collection and sorting are only marginally addressed.
• The author proposes that standards organizations adopt a holistic circular economy framework to move away from 'siloed' work and instead focus on retaining materials in use for as long as possible.
• To improve recycling efficiency, the paper suggests 'variety reduction'—standardizing the selection of plastic materials and functionally equivalent product types to simplify collection and sorting.
• A proposed global treaty on plastic pollution could act as a catalyst for filling current standardization gaps and establishing a 'toolbox' of recognized standards to monitor and achieve environmental targets.

APA

Weissinger, R. (2021). Standards and the International Standardization Landscape: Relevance to Plastics. Forum on Trade, Environment, & the SDGs. https://lyrical-cormorant.files.svdcdn.com/production/assets/images/Publications/Standrads-and-the-International-Standardization-Landscape-Relevance-to-Plastics.pdf?dm=1683811358

Chicago

Weissinger, Reinhard. Standards and the International Standardization Landscape: Relevance to Plastics. Forum on Trade, Environment, & the SDGs, 2021. https://lyrical-cormorant.files.svdcdn.com/production/assets/images/Publications/Standrads-and-the-International-Standardization-Landscape-Relevance-to-Plastics.pdf?dm=1683811358.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Weissinger |first1=Reinhard |title=Standards and the International Standardization Landscape: Relevance to Plastics |publisher=Forum on Trade, Environment, & the SDGs |date=August 2021 |url=https://lyrical-cormorant.files.svdcdn.com/production/assets/images/Publications/Standrads-and-the-International-Standardization-Landscape-Relevance-to-Plastics.pdf?dm=1683811358 |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{weissinger2021standards, author = {Weissinger, Reinhard}, title = {{Standards and the International Standardization Landscape: Relevance to Plastics}}, institution = {Forum on Trade, Environment, \& the SDGs}, year = {2021}, month = aug, url = {https://lyrical-cormorant.files.svdcdn.com/production/assets/images/Publications/Standrads-and-the-International-Standardization-Landscape-Relevance-to-Plastics.pdf?dm=1683811358}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }