This report, Policy Scenarios for Eliminating Plastic Pollution by 2040, aims to assist negotiations for an international legally-binding instrument on plastic pollution. It is published under the responsibility of the OECD and has been produced with financial support from the United Kingdom and the European Union.
Since 2000, plastics production, use, and waste have more than doubled, with significant amounts of plastic leaking into the environment annually. Business-as-usual practices are unsustainable given the rapid increase in plastic flows and their environmental impacts. The report covers a set of ten policy instruments across various stages of the plastics lifecycle, differing in terms of policy ambition and geographical coverage.
The report presents five policy scenarios:
Each scenario includes ten policy instruments grouped into four policy pillars:
The report uses state-of-the-art environment-economy modeling to provide detailed sectoral and regional projections of the plastics lifecycle, including different polymers and applications, waste generation and treatment, and related leakage to aquatic and terrestrial environments.
Achieving the goal of eliminating plastic pollution requires ambitious action by all countries, with strong international cooperation and resource mobilization to overcome technical, economic, and governance challenges. The findings of this report aim to serve as a reference for negotiators and policymakers as they develop the treaty and consider new policies to end plastic pollution.
The report was prepared by Rob Dellink and Elena Buzzi under the overall supervision of Shardul Agrawala, with contributions from Peter Börkey and Ruben Bibas.