BAN Toxics Stands Firm: “No Treaty is Better Than a Weak Treaty” as Global Plastics Talks Collapse in Geneva

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Geneva, Switzerland — What was expected to be a turning point in humanity’s fight against plastic pollution instead unraveled into stalemate and disappointment. On August 15, the second part of the fifth session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC-5.2) adjourned in deadlock, leaving the world no closer to forging the historic Global Plastics Treaty that environmental defenders have long demanded.

For BAN Toxics, a Philippine-based environmental justice group, the outcome underscored a bitter truth: industry power and political compromise continue to outweigh the urgent need for planetary survival. “No treaty is better than a weak treaty,” the group affirmed, joining ambitious countries and civil society organizations in rejecting a watered-down proposal that excluded the very heart of the problem—chemicals, production cuts, and human health.

A Treaty Gutted by Industry Influence

The flashpoint came on August 13, when INC Chair Ambassador Luis Vayas Valdivieso of Ecuador introduced a draft treaty text that many immediately branded as hollow. The text, stripped of provisions long championed by frontline nations and communities, failed to mention toxic chemicals, ignored reuse systems, and contained vague, toothless language on health, justice, and human rights. Even more alarming, it eliminated the option for countries to vote if consensus could not be reached during future Conferences of the Parties—essentially handing veto power to petrochemical interests determined to stall progress.

“The Chair’s text blatantly disregards three years of negotiations,” said Jam Lorenzo, Deputy Executive Director of BAN Toxics. “It does not reflect the will of the majority and disrespects the core mandate of this process: to protect human health and the environment from plastic pollution across its full life cycle.”

According to the Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL), the talks were flooded with 234 fossil fuel and chemical industry lobbyists—outnumbering the combined delegations of the 70 smallest participating nations. For civil society groups like Break Free From Plastic (BFFP) and GAIA, this imbalance was proof that industry influence has infiltrated and warped the treaty-making process, weakening ambition and obstructing real solutions.

The Philippine Lens: Plastics as a Public Health Disaster

BAN Toxics argued that a strong treaty must tackle plastic production at its root, not merely its wasteful symptoms. The stakes, they emphasized, are glaringly clear in the Philippines. Plastic waste, choking drainage systems and waterways, has repeatedly turned storms into deadly floods. This year alone, successive monsoon rains left at least 30 dead and millions displaced.

Beyond physical destruction, the health toll is stark: the Department of Health reported 3,037 cases of leptospirosis between January and mid-July 2025, with over 1,100 infections occurring in just six weeks, fueled by flood-contaminated waters clogged with plastic debris.

“We are living proof that plastic pollution is not only an environmental issue—it is a public health crisis,” said Lorenzo. “When plastic-choked drains turn rain into floodwaters, when families are forced to wade through disease-ridden streets, it is the poor and the vulnerable who suffer first and suffer most.”

The Philippines’ notorious “sachet economy”—a dependence on cheap, single-use plastics—compounds the crisis, as imported plastic products and waste flood an already overburdened waste management system.

Chemicals: The Silent Poison in Plastics

BAN Toxics insists that any credible treaty must grapple with the hidden menace of chemicals in plastics. Data from PlastChem revealed that over 16,000 chemicals are used in plastics, with comprehensive safety data available for only a fraction of them. These toxic substances leach throughout plastics’ life cycle—from production to disposal—posing invisible but devastating threats to health and ecosystems.

“In a treaty, two things are non-negotiable,” said Lorenzo. “First, full disclosure of chemicals in products, so people know what they are using every day. Second, accountability on where those chemicals come from. Without transparency and traceability, we cannot protect communities, workers, or consumers.”

The Call to Action: Holding the Line

Despite the deadlock, BAN Toxics praised the Philippine negotiating team for standing its ground on essential issues: production cuts, chemical transparency, toxics-free reuse systems, and a dedicated article on health.

For the organization, the failed session in Geneva is not the end, but a warning. Powerful petrochemical states may succeed in delaying progress, but they cannot erase the urgency of the crisis.

“We cannot afford a treaty that bows to industry pressure and leaves the most vulnerable populations to carry the burden,” Lorenzo declared. “The world must demand nothing less than a strong, ambitious, binding plastics treaty—one that puts health, justice, and accountability at its core. Anything weaker is a betrayal of the future.”

As Geneva closes its doors on INC-5.2 without resolution, the fight for a real solution to plastic pollution continues. The world now faces a defining choice: yield to petrochemical profits, or stand firm for people and the planet.

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