The WTO Dialogue on Plastics Pollution: Overview and State of Play

This policy brief provides an overview of the WTO Dialogue on Plastics Pollution, a member-led initiative launched in November 2020 to foster trade cooperation to reduce plastic pollution. It details the Dialogue's evolution, its three primary workstreams—crosscutting issues, promoting trade to tackle pollution, and circularity/reduction—and explores various policy options for international cooperation within the WTO framework, while emphasizing complementarity with other global efforts like the UNEA negotiations for a legally binding instrument on plastic pollution.

• The global plastics economy is heavily reliant on international trade; in 2021, trade across the plastics life cycle was valued at nearly $1.2 trillion, with approximately 370 million metric tonnes of plastic crossing borders.
• The WTO Dialogue on Plastics Pollution was established in November 2020 and is co-sponsored by 75 members, who collectively account for more than 75% of the global trade in plastics.
• The Dialogue is organized into three workstreams: Workstream 1 focuses on crosscutting issues like capacity building and transparency; Workstream 2 promotes trade in sustainable waste management technologies and alternatives; and Workstream 3 addresses circularity and the reduction of harmful plastics.
• A primary goal of the Dialogue is to improve the transparency of trade flows by addressing limitations in the World Customs Organization's (WCO) Harmonized System (HS) classifications, which currently lack sufficient detail on primary plastics, single-use plastics, and material composition.
• The Dialogue emphasizes the need for 'Aid for Trade' to support developing countries in enhancing regulatory capacities, promoting non-plastic substitutes, and accessing waste management technologies.
• Cooperation options under discussion include promoting trade in non-plastic feedstocks from natural fibers—such as hemp, jute, abaca, corn starch, seaweed, and bamboo—and exploring 'reuse and refill' retail systems to reduce packaging.
• The Dialogue identifies subsidies as a barrier to pollution reduction, noting that subsidies often target upstream fossil fuel feedstocks and petrochemical production, which artificially lowers the price of virgin plastics and undercuts recycling markets.
• The Dialogue seeks to support the implementation of the Basel Convention's plastic waste amendments by improving the detection of illegal trade and clarifying terms such as 'adequate recycling capacity'.
• The initiative aims to achieve concrete, pragmatic, and effective outcomes by the Thirteenth WTO Ministerial Conference (MC13).

APA

Birkbeck, C. D., Sugathan, M., & Eraso, S. A. (2022). The WTO Dialogue on Plastics Pollution: Overview and State of Play. Forum on Trade, Environment, & the SDGs. https://lyrical-cormorant.files.svdcdn.com/production/assets/images/Publications/TESS-Policy-Brief-The-WTO-Dialogue-on-Plastics-Pollution.pdf?dm=1678460889

Chicago

Birkbeck, Carolyn Deere, Mahesh Sugathan, and Simon Ardila Eraso. The WTO Dialogue on Plastics Pollution: Overview and State of Play. Forum on Trade, Environment, & the SDGs, 2022. https://lyrical-cormorant.files.svdcdn.com/production/assets/images/Publications/TESS-Policy-Brief-The-WTO-Dialogue-on-Plastics-Pollution.pdf?dm=1678460889.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Birkbeck |first1=Carolyn Deere |last2=Sugathan |first2=Mahesh |last3=Eraso |first3=Simon Ardila |title=The WTO Dialogue on Plastics Pollution: Overview and State of Play |publisher=Forum on Trade, Environment, & the SDGs |date=December 2022 |url=https://lyrical-cormorant.files.svdcdn.com/production/assets/images/Publications/TESS-Policy-Brief-The-WTO-Dialogue-on-Plastics-Pollution.pdf?dm=1678460889 |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{birkbeck2022wto, author = {Birkbeck, Carolyn Deere and Sugathan, Mahesh and Eraso, Simon Ardila}, title = {{The WTO Dialogue on Plastics Pollution: Overview and State of Play}}, institution = {Forum on Trade, Environment, \& the SDGs}, year = {2022}, month = dec, url = {https://lyrical-cormorant.files.svdcdn.com/production/assets/images/Publications/TESS-Policy-Brief-The-WTO-Dialogue-on-Plastics-Pollution.pdf?dm=1678460889}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }