From Aug. 5 to 15, the world had a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity at INC-5.2 to end plastic pollution through a Global Plastics Treaty. However, by the close of INC-5.2 on Aug. 15 in Geneva, no agreement was reached. INC-5.2 failed to produce a Global Plastics Treaty, despite Greenpeace’s push for an ambitious 75 percent reduction in plastic production by 2040 to protect human life and the environment from worsening pollution impacts.

The fight against plastic pollution is not new. The 2022 United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA-5) resolution stressed that solutions must address the full life cycle of plastics, from production and design to downstream waste management. INC-5.2 should therefore have addressed not only pollution, waste management and recycling, but also production cuts, health impacts, microplastics regulation and reuse solutions. Unfortunately, the Geneva talks revealed a regression, abandoning the founding spirit of the Global Plastics Treaty.

The road to tackling plastic pollution has never been smooth. At INC-5.2, countries were split. Over 100 nations, including Colombia, Panama and the European Union, pushed for production cuts, reusable systems, elimination of toxic chemicals and placing health as a top priority. Conversely, several countries rejected upstream measures, framing plastic pollution solely as a problem of contamination and waste management.

According to the Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL), INC-5.2 was attended by 234 fossil fuel industry lobbyists with a direct stake in plastic feedstock supply, outnumbering the total combined delegates from EU countries. Their presence tainted the treaty’s original intent. Ironically, those who benefit most from fossil fuel extraction for plastic production were given ample space to influence negotiations.

The effort to weaken INC-5.2 was also driven by the United States. In a memo sent before negotiations began, the US urged several national delegates to reject upstream solutions such as production cuts in the Global Plastics Treaty.

Without upstream production cuts, downstream waste systems will remain overwhelmed. The practice of cross-border waste exports and imports offers a clear lesson: Even the best waste management systems cannot keep pace with uncontrolled production. In the waste hierarchy, reduce—cutting at the source—must be the top priority.

We cannot rely on recycling alone; recycling is not enough. The logic is simple: If the faucet is leaking, you fix the faucet; you don’t just keep buying bigger buckets to catch the spill.

The lack of seriousness among governments in tackling plastic pollution was evident at INC-5.2. The UN Environment Program (UNEP) had invited over 70 ministers to attend. Yet, by Aug. 12, only a handful had shown up in person in Geneva. Worse still, their presence yielded no significant breakthroughs, particularly on driving production reduction targets.

As one of the countries bearing a heavy burden from plastic pollution, especially from hard-to-recycle single-use packaging such as sachets, Indonesia should have stood firmly for a strong and fair Global Plastics Treaty. It should also have taken a leading role in representing Southeast Asian nations facing similar crises.

However, Indonesia was seen as “playing it safe” in INC-5.2 negotiations. Despite facing severe impacts from plastic waste, the country chose a middle-ground stance, aligning with neither the high-ambition nor the low-ambition camp. Instead of firmly supporting production cuts, Indonesia leaned toward Japan’s proposal on Sustainable Consumption and Production, citing the need to ensure that the fight against plastic pollution aligns with equitable economic growth.

Indonesia must take a decisive stand in Global Plastics Treaty negotiations, rather than remaining neutral. With landfills beyond capacity, high microplastic exposure in the population and a waste management system on the brink of collapse without upstream cuts, neutrality only prolongs the crisis.

Existing regulations, from local single-use plastic bans to Environment and Forestry Ministry Regulation No. 75/2019 on producers’ reduction roadmaps, should be leveraged as both political and technical capital to push for ambitious global commitments.

Indonesia should lead, not follow, by affirming that addressing plastic pollution requires tackling its entire life cycle, setting global production reduction targets and making public health protection a top priority. One key solution is expanding reusable systems.

Amid global calls to reduce single-use plastics, reusable systems are often seen as a modern trend. Yet, for Indonesians, reuse is an age-old practice deeply woven into daily life, long before plastics took over. Bringing containers, returning glass bottles and reusing packaging were all part of local wisdom that is now once again relevant in tackling plastic pollution.

Unfortunately, decades of plastic culture have gradually eroded these traditions. Still, in certain areas, they survive, such as the multi-generational practice of sharing food in stacked metal containers known as rantangan. Rantangan is not only a symbol of social warmth but also a living example of community-born Earth stewardship.

With such deeply rooted traditions, the government should be promoting the adaptation of traditional reuse systems through modern policy and infrastructure support, making them viable for today’s challenges. This approach would be far more effective than relying solely on plastic recycling, which, according to the Environment Ministry, has a success rate of only about 10 percent in Indonesia.

While reuse has been included in the national waste reduction roadmap, challenges remain in standardizing packaging design, building collection logistics and engaging businesses. Backed by the UNEA-5 mandate to cut upstream plastic production, Indonesia has a significant opportunity to lead Southeast Asia in tackling modern plastic challenges by reviving and adapting its cultural heritage of reuse.

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Ibar Akbar is a plastic-free campaigner at Greenpeace Indonesia, where Rahka Susanto is a communications campaigner.