With quantities of waste steadily rising worldwide, packaging material and packaging waste have emerged as critical areas for action at various levels. Governments and businesses must consider political risks and ways to anticipate, understand and mitigate them in international trade. 

Over the past decade, governments have continually prioritised waste prevention, based on the Circular Economy waste hierarchy framework: avoidance (i.e. package-less), reuse, recycling, recovery, and disposal. However, waste advocates, regulators, and policymakers have yet to prioritise the top tiers of this circular economy hierarchy (e.g., avoidance promoted by package-less products and implementation of reuse systems).

As interest in reducing plastic waste grows, it becomes increasingly important to ensure that trade policies minimise packaging waste and improve reuse strategies across regions. To spark innovative thinking and valuable discussions on this topic, QUNO has is delighted to present its latest report, which contains a focused analysis of the state of play of the packaging-free retail sector in Latin America, examining policy barriers (in the role of services) affecting the wider uptake of the packaging-free retail models in the region. This work seeks to inform members and complement the work being carried out at the World Trade Organization's Informal Dialogue on Plastics Pollution and Environmentally Sustainable Plastics Trade, and the United Nations Environment Program's Global Plastic Treaty Negotiations.

Attached you will be able to find both our comprehensive report, and a policy brief.