We still have a lot of work to do. Sadly, globally, plastic waste volumes surged to 460 million tonnes annually, with oceans swallowing 11 million tonnes of plastic waste.
Innovations and policy pushes have lit sparks of hope. Indonesia’s 70% marine leakage was cut via National Plastic Action Partnerships (NPAPs) and shows that community-led pacts can pay off.
Here’s our punchy roundup of some of the year’s defining stories, spotlighting actionable insights for sustainable progress.
- Global Headlines: Momentum Meets Gridlock
- UN Global Plastic Treaty Talks Stall in Geneva: Despite continued support from key organisations (including the RPM Program) and multiple governments, August’s INC-5.2 negotiations for a Global Plastic Treaty adjourned without consensus on a binding plastics treaty; despite EU calls for lifecycle curbs and production caps.
Fossil fuel lobbyists and oil producing countries blocked the collective ambition, but 175 nations are still committed.
What does this mean? This will result in a lack of consistent approach and agreed targets for plastic impact reduction.
We continue to produce too much plastic for society to manage. Reports showed that plastic waste outpaced global management capacity by early September according to Earth Action, signaling a continued crisis of exports, mismanagement, and unchecked production.
In the UK it is estimated that there has been an 84% Jump of plastic waste to Non-OECD Nations
UK’s export of plastic waste ramped up as 2025 shipments to Malaysia and Indonesia spiked. UK plastic waste exports to developing countries soared 84% in early 2025, hitting 317,647 tonnes total.
Our RPM call to action: Prioritise upstream cuts and downstream infrastructure fixes.
The Treaty talks will resume in 2026 via the UN Environment Agency & Talks. RPM remains an active part of the ‘Business Coalition for a Plastic Treaty’ and our efforts are now on the 2026 resumption of talks to lobby those relevant parties to slash the projected 1.7 billion-tonne waste by 2060.