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Negotiations between Parties to reach a consensus on ending plastic pollution have closed without a resolution in Busan, South Korea and are scheduled to resume early next year. Negotiations thus far have failed to live up to the expectations of the countries, organisations, and people anticipating an urgent and ambitious Treaty to address plastic pollution, with several disagreements muddying the process—the issue of whether the text should impose a cap on production or merely address plastic pollution among them.
Regardless of the outcome, workers are at the forefront of catalysing this transformation—and any multilateral agreement on plastics will significantly impact these workers. More than 4 million workers are employed in the plastic manufacturing industry, and about 34 million waste pickers recover close to 60% of the post-consumer plastic waste recycled globally. In most countries, informal workers are primarily responsible for plastic waste management, with women comprising the majority of this workforce in lower-income countries.
The fifth round of negotiations in Busan followed the UN Environment Assembly Resolution 5/14, adopted in March 2022 in Nairobi, which called for an international and legally binding instrument to eliminate plastic pollution. Although minimal attention was afforded to the social dimension in this process, the March 2022 Resolution was historic for the waste pickers movement, with workers’ contribution to the collecting, sorting, and recycling of plastics recognised for the first time in a UN Environmental Resolution. By the third round of negotiations, there was an unprecedented agreement to incorporate the terms ‘waste picker’ and ‘just transitions’ in a plastics context.
An independent Article 10 on ‘just transitions’—with a focus on formal and informal workers across the full lifecycle of plastics—was agreed upon by all Parties. Despite positive progress, the Article remains underdeveloped and ambiguous: there is no mention of living wages, social protection, and occupational safety and health of workers, or guidance on occupational exposure limits for hazardous chemicals used in the production of plastics or released during waste management, and Parties are encouraged to undertake their own national initiatives and self-report on progress. As the draft Treaty remains unratified in line with the principle that ‘nothing is agreed upon until everything is agreed upon,’ another opportunity to advance the rights and working conditions of waste workers has been delayed.
Plastics are ubiquitous—they are present in the air, rain, and snow, and more than 5 trillion pieces of plastic, weighing more than 250,000 tonnes, are floating in the oceans. Microplastics have been found in human blood samples in more than 80% of tests, and studies have reported on the presence of microplastics in the placenta, indicating that plastic exposure begins in utero.
The impact of plastics on workers is equally pervasive. Over two million workers lose their lives each year due to exposure to toxic chemicals, including those found in plastics. Plastics-related diseases such as immune, endocrine, and reproductive system dysfunction, cardiovascular and respiratory conditions, as well as cancers and birth defects, are often diagnosed long after exposure and often not reflected in the Global Burden of Diseases measures.
Occupational safety and health and occupational exposure limit considerations are essential throughout the lifecycle of plastics, particularly in the post-use stages in lower-income countries, where workers are largely informal, come from marginalised communities, and lack social protection or protective gear. Women waste workers suffer from worse health outcomes than men, including a greater prevalence of hypertension and bronchitis.
Addressing safe handling issues requires transparency in the volumes and chemical components of plastics produced, as well as their impact on the workers who handle them. Establishing formal mechanisms for integrating transparent and high-quality data, scientific advice, and workers’ issues to be at the forefront of the negotiation process will be crucial for evidence-based and viable solutions at the multilateral level. Informal workers and informal cooperatives in the plastic sector can also offer valuable lessons and best practices, enabling governments to accelerate solutions. An equal partnership between decision-makers and plastic sector workers must be based on the dignity of their work and recognition of their public service with environmental, social, and economic benefits.
Plastic sector workers’ organisations worldwide are calling for a binding, worker-centric approach to the Plastics Treaty, focusing on the rights of impacted workers and communities, in line with International Labour Organization’s Guidelines for a Just Transition. Caps on plastic production and bans on targeted products and chemicals of concern have been a longstanding demand of workers’ groups.
As the International Negotiating Committee continues to build upon the draft Treaty in early 2025, it is essential that aspects related to informal workers and waste pickers are retained, along with strengthening Article 10 on Just Transitions by adding a definition. The inclusion of International Labour Standards for formal and informal settings in the plastics sector and the need for social dialogue are equally important.
In retrospect, lessons learned from the negotiations at the Plastic Treaty must guide efforts to advance workers’ issues in circular sectors beyond plastic, where progress on decent work has been lacking. For the integration of the workers’ agenda in the Plastic Treaty to be successful, there’s a need for protracted work by local organisations and regional coalitions to ensure that workers’ voices are heard at national and multilateral levels. For instance, the African Circular Economy Alliance (ACEA) is now considering an Africa-wide standard for recycled plastics along with a focus on decent employment generation.
As negotiations resume next year, we must craft a Plastic Treaty that uplifts workers as much as it protects the environment. This effort calls for a bold commitment to an equitable global partnership that fosters cooperation amongst nations, sectors, societies and people—an aspiration rooted in the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development 1992. Done well, the Treaty has the potential to foreground future just transitions spanning sectors and geographies.
