Our current global economy operates on a linear model of production and consumption, characterized by a take-make-use-dispose approach to resource use. This unsustainable practice leads to waste, pollution, biodiversity loss, and climate change. As plastics are an integral part of the global economy, their production and consumption systems also follow this linear model. Consequently, the linear plastics economy lies at the heart of the plastic pollution crisis, which severely impacts the environment and human health.

Efforts have recently emerged to transform the linear plastics economy into a circular plastics economy. At the national level, governments are implementing various trade-related measures. On a global scale, there is a growing recognition of the urgent need to address plastic pollution and the essential role of circularity in combating it. This thesis examines whether and to what extent the existing international legal framework promotes the adoption of trade measures to facilitate the circular economy in the plastic sector. While this research primarily focusses on plastics, it intends to contribute to the broader debate on the need to transition to a circular economy to address the underlying issues of unsustainable production and consumption.