Plastic Pollution and Trade Across the Life Cycle of Plastics: Options for Amending the Harmonized System to Improve Transparency

This policy brief examines the role of the World Customs Organization's (WCO) Harmonized System (HS) in tracking international trade across the life cycle of plastics. It argues that current HS classifications lack the granularity needed for evidence-based policymaking to tackle plastic pollution and proposes specific amendments for the 2022–2027 cycle to improve transparency in trade flows of feedstocks, primary plastics, manufactured products, and waste.

• International trade across the life cycle of plastics is a massive economic sector, with exports valued at at least $1 trillion in 2019, representing at least 5% of total global trade value.
• The Harmonized System (HS) is the primary international nomenclature used by over 200 countries to collect trade data and by customs authorities for border controls, but it currently lacks the disaggregated data necessary for effective plastic pollution policies.
• The HS suffers from several critical shortfalls, including insufficient differentiation of primary plastics by polymer and feedstock, and a lack of categories for recycled plastic polymers.
• There is a significant gap in tracking 'hidden' plastics—those embedded in non-plastic goods (like cars) or used as packaging—because the HS generally classifies packaging with the goods they accompany.
• Current HS classifications for plastic waste do not align with the definitions and terminology used in the Basel Convention's plastic waste amendments, complicating the regulation of transboundary waste movements.
• The HS insufficiently differentiates between specific toxic chemical additives and Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) used in plastics, often clustering hazardous and non-hazardous chemicals under the same subheadings.
• The authors recommend a specific set of amendments for the 2027 HS cycle, including creating new subheadings for commonly recycled primary polymers (ethylene, propylene, and styrene) and adding codes for POPs controlled by the Stockholm or Rotterdam Conventions.
• Proposed amendments for manufactured goods include disaggregating single-use plastics identified as high concern and revealing information about hidden plastic packaging associated with certain traded products.
• For plastic waste, the brief recommends creating new subheadings to differentiate by more polymer types and amending Section Notes for Chapter 39 to align with the Basel Convention.
• The window for implementing these changes is urgent; proposals must be submitted in 2022 and 2023 to be part of the 2027 entry-into-force cycle, otherwise changes would not take effect until 2032 at the earliest.

APA

Eyzaguirre, C. V., & Birkbeck, C. D. (2022). Plastic Pollution and Trade Across the Life Cycle of Plastics: Options for Amending the Harmonized System to Improve Transparency. Forum on Trade, Environment, & the SDGs. https://lyrical-cormorant.files.svdcdn.com/production/assets/images/Publications/TESS-Policy-Brief-Plastic-Pollution-and-Trade-Across-the-Life-Cycle-of-Plastics.pdf?dm=1678487297

Chicago

Eyzaguirre, Carla Vaca, and Carolyn Deere Birkbeck. Plastic Pollution and Trade Across the Life Cycle of Plastics: Options for Amending the Harmonized System to Improve Transparency. Forum on Trade, Environment, & the SDGs, 2022. https://lyrical-cormorant.files.svdcdn.com/production/assets/images/Publications/TESS-Policy-Brief-Plastic-Pollution-and-Trade-Across-the-Life-Cycle-of-Plastics.pdf?dm=1678487297.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Eyzaguirre |first1=Carla Vaca |last2=Birkbeck |first2=Carolyn Deere |title=Plastic Pollution and Trade Across the Life Cycle of Plastics: Options for Amending the Harmonized System to Improve Transparency |publisher=Forum on Trade, Environment, & the SDGs |date=May 2022 |url=https://lyrical-cormorant.files.svdcdn.com/production/assets/images/Publications/TESS-Policy-Brief-Plastic-Pollution-and-Trade-Across-the-Life-Cycle-of-Plastics.pdf?dm=1678487297 |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{eyzaguirre2022plastic, author = {Eyzaguirre, Carla Vaca and Birkbeck, Carolyn Deere}, title = {{Plastic Pollution and Trade Across the Life Cycle of Plastics: Options for Amending the Harmonized System to Improve Transparency}}, institution = {Forum on Trade, Environment, \& the SDGs}, year = {2022}, month = may, url = {https://lyrical-cormorant.files.svdcdn.com/production/assets/images/Publications/TESS-Policy-Brief-Plastic-Pollution-and-Trade-Across-the-Life-Cycle-of-Plastics.pdf?dm=1678487297}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }