OECD

The OECD has a longstanding line of work on resource efficiency and the circular economy, which includes issues related to plastics and plastic pollution. In recent years, work led by the Working Party on Resource Productivity and Waste has focused on land-based sources of marine plastic pollution, in particular from the point of view of the management of plastic waste, upstream and midstream measures, closing the loop on resource use and enhance plastic recycling, and reducing the incidence of single-use plastic waste and microplastics.
 
The OECD Global Plastics Outlook reports constitute a key tool to support decision-makers. Policy scenarios for the evolution of plastics use, waste and environmental impacts contained in the reports can help policy makers understand the scale of the challenge to transition to a more sustainable and circular use of plastics, as well as to grasp the environmental benefits and economic consequences of adopting more stringent policies. Modelling results find that, thanks to a combination of fiscal instruments and other policy measures, the Global Ambition policy package could reduce plastics use and waste by a third below the Baseline, and almost completely eliminate plastic leakage to the environment by 2060.
The following report Policy Scenarios for Eliminating Plastic Pollution by 2040 models alternative policy scenarios honing in on different areas for policy action. This includes curbing production and demand, promoting eco-design, enhancing recycling and closing leakage pathways. The report provides insights into the potential environmental benefits and economic consequences of different levels of ambition towards ending plastic pollution by 2040, according to which countries act, how stringent policies are and what stages of the plastics lifecycle they cover.
 
Additionally, a recent policy brief highlights the costs of eliminating plastic leakage and the currently available official development aid to achieve that role. The brief examines: trends in plastics use, waste generation and the related environmental impacts in developing countries, the scope and nature of Official Development Assistance (ODA) in support of reducing plastic pollution, and effective and innovative development cooperation approaches that could be scaled up and further developed.
 
The OECD Regional Plastics Outlook for Southeast and East Asia is forthcoming. Southeast and East Asia is uniquely positioned to end plastic pollution, as it accounts for nearly one-third of global GDP and plays an important role in plastics value chains. It has also become a hotspot for plastic pollution, having experienced escalating levels of waste generation and insufficient, albeit accelerating, improvements in waste management in recent decades. These trends underscore the need for additional, ambitious policies.
 
The forthcoming Regional Plastics Outlook provides a roadmap to support policy design and implementation in the 10 ASEAN Member States along with Japan, Korea and the People’s Republic of China (ASEAN Plus Three countries). It both assesses the current situation and policy landscape, and quantifies regional plastics flows through 2050, including plastics use, waste and end-of-life fates, as well as environmental impacts linked to plastics. The Outlook also presents policy scenarios and recommendations to end plastic leakage in the region.
 
In addition, the OECD has a long-standing line of work on the use of economic instruments to promote resource efficiency and the circular economy transition. The OECD report “Economic instruments for a resource-efficient circular economy” reviews economic instruments that are used by governments to support the transition to a more circular economy, such as landfill and incineration taxes, deposit-refund schemes and virgin material taxes, and outlines lessons learned about the use and effectiveness of these instruments. Ongoing work looks at different existing approaches to applying taxes or fees for plastics production or use to address various environmental implications occurring throughout the lifecycle of plastics. In addition, we have published comprehensive reviews of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) systems, including the OECD report “Extended Producer Responsibility: Updated Guidance for Efficient Waste Management,” which outlines best practices and design principles.
 
The OECD producers annual updates for monitoring international trade in plastic waste and scrap, most recently in “Monitoring trade in plastic waste and scrap 2025”. These analyses track shifts in trade flows, helping countries understand impacts on domestic waste management and compliance with international agreements such as the Basel Convention. The latest edition reveals a further 3.4% decline in global trade in plastic waste and scrap from 2022 to 2023, with intra-OECD trade remaining robust, while exports from OECD to non-OECD countries rose by 15%, notably to Malaysia, Vietnam and Indonesia.