Global Plastics Policy Centre

In order to help tackle the wide knowledge gap around what makes plastic policy effective and support enhanced global plastics policy, this study aims to independently assess a suite of plastics policies to provide evidence for decision-makers in government, business, civil society, and academia to maximise the effectiveness of plastics policies and implement solutions. The conclusions of this analysis will assist the development of effective policies throughout the entire plastics life cycle. This study has evaluated approximately 100 plastic policies, initiatives and voluntary actions across governments, businesses and civil society world-wide. An analytical framework has been developed to ensure each policy has been reviewed using the same method and with the same level of rigour. The framework is made up of a set of objective reference statements against which the intent and performance of each policy can be assessed and rated. The overall ‘effectiveness rating’ of a particular policy is a composite of its performance against the reference statements, and is presented alongside a measure of the strength of available evidence for each policy. The analysis also considers inter alia the socio-economic burden of the policy, its contribution to a circular economy, and its alignment to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Key finding 1: Lack of monitoring and evaluation of plastics policy effectiveness
Key finding 2: The report identifies critical enablers for effective plastic policies
Key finding 3: Integration of policies is lacking