The Plastics Industry Association (PLASTICS) released the following statement ahead of the fourth session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC) on plastic pollution taking place in Ottawa, Canada:

“This meeting has the opportunity to be make or break for these negotiations,” said PLASTICS President and CEO Matt Seaholm.

“It will be a missed opportunity if we spend the week talking about how to stop the production of plastic. We need plastic—it’s an essential material that makes society better for a variety of reasons. However, it needs to stay out of the environment, which is the shared goal for our industry and attendees of the negotiations. Our industry is committed to investing in new recycling technologies and innovations to make plastic even more sustainable. We need partners and remain hopeful attendees will come to the table in a spirit of compromise so that we can develop strategies to truly address plastic waste in the environment.”

“The plastic industry remains committed to keeping plastic out of the environment and in our circular economy,” said PLASTICS Vice President of Sustainability Patrick Krieger. “We need more support of circularity, not caps or eliminating the production of an essential material. We must increase our recycling rates worldwide through improved infrastructure and greater accessibility to recycling for more people. We know there are solutions available to meet our shared sustainability goals and we look forward to reaching them together.”