Ahead of UN Plastics Treaty negotiations set to take place in Nairobi, Kenya, next month, Plastic Pollution Coalition has launched the Global Plastic Laws Database in partnership with Break Free From Plastic Europe, Environmental Law Alliance Worldwide, and Surfrider U.S. Following agreement and adoption of the UN Plastics Treaty, the Database will be useful to support its implementation and then necessary to track and monitor its implementation.
The Global Plastic Laws Database is the most comprehensive tool to date to research, track, and visualize plastic legislation that has been passed around the world. The Database tracks legislation across the full life cycle of plastics and organizes these policies according to life cycle categories and key topics. Adopting policies to reduce plastic pollution on a global scale is widely recognized as a vital step to address this crisis and its associated detrimental impacts on our communities, health, and environment.
Plastic Pollution Coalition serves as the Project Manager for the Global Plastic Laws Database, working in collaboration with partner organizations who contribute data from around the world. The unique dataset is input by individuals with native language knowledge and local, on-the-ground networks from across a diverse range of geographies. This process ensures the legislative data and resources are accurate, timely, and relevant to a wide range of political and legislative systems. Collectively, the data partners represent combined data from approximately 115 (out of a total of approximately 195) countries in the world.
Recognizing the impacts of plastics throughout its full life cycle, this database is organized into nine topics: Design and Reuse, Extended Producer Responsibility, Maritime Sources, Microplastics, Production and Manufacturing, Reduction, Transparency and Traceability, Waste Management, and Waste Trade.
The Global Plastic Laws Database is updated regularly, providing a way to monitor and identify emerging trends, solutions, and policy innovations at local, national, and international levels.