the United Kingdom

Specific Measures: A Circular Economy Strategy for England
Brief Description:
The UK Government is committed to transitioning to a circular economy – a future where we keep our resources in use for longer; waste is reduced; we accelerate the path to net zero; we see investment in critical infrastructure and green jobs; our economy prospers; and nature thrives.
 
To support the government in achieving this goal a Circular Economy Taskforce of experts from across government, industry, academia and civil society was convened in November 2024 to help develop the Circular Economy Strategy for England. We are also developing roadmaps that will detail the interventions that the government and others will make on a sector-by-sector basis. The sectors prioritised for initial roadmaps are agrifood, built environment, chemicals and plastics, electrical and electronic equipment, textiles and transport. The strategy and first six roadmaps are due to be published in Autumn 2025. While led by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, this is a cross-government effort based on close collaboration between departments and the governments of the Four Nations of the UK.

Specific Measures: Sustainable Production Goals
Brief Description:

• Introduce a deposit return scheme to incentivise increased recycling of drinks containers (plastic bottles and cans). [see below]
• Introduced in April 2022, a tax on plastic packaging with less than 30% recycled plastic (See 3.1.1 above). The Plastic Packaging Tax provides an economic incentive for businesses to use recycled materials in the production of plastic packaging, which in turn creates greater demand for these materials and stimulates increased collection and recycling of plastic waste, diverting it away from landfill or incineration.
• Harness the potential of extended producer responsibility for other product types [see below]
• Set minimum requirements through eco-design to encourage resource efficient product design. For waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE), Defra consulted on proposals to improve the current regulations from late 2023 to March 2024. Work continues on measures to improve fairness, material capture and to embed circular economy principles at the heart of the WEEE system.

Specific Measures: CEN Standard
Brief Description:
The UK supported the development of a standard for circular design of fishing and aquaculture gear through CEN (European Committee for Standardization). The standard was published in 2024 and is publicly available.

Specific Measures: UK Plastics Pact
Brief Description:
The government provides funding to the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP), who run the UK Plastics Pact (UKPP). UKPP members cover the entire plastics value chain and are responsible for the majority of plastic packaging sold through UK supermarkets, and approximately two thirds of the total plastic packaging placed on the UK market.
 
Through our funding and industry fees, WRAP is:

• Providing one-to-one support for their Plastic Pact members working on refill and reuse pilots.
• Working towards the ambition of making reuse mainstream by 2025.

 
The UKPP ambitious targets to achieve by 2025 for plastic packaging are:

• 100% to be reusable, recyclable or compostable
• 70% to be effectively recycled
• 30% average recycled content across all plastic packaging
• Eliminate problematic or unnecessary Single-use plastic packaging items

Significant progress has been made. Since 2018, there has been a 99.6% reduction in problematic plastic items, 71% of plastic packaging is now recyclable, 55% is recycled, and the average recycled content has increased from 8.5% to 24%.

 
In Progress
Extended Producer Responsibility for packaging (pEPR):
pEPR sets a firm and clear expectation for producers of packaging to comply with the ‘polluter pays’ principle. It is a first and crucial step in driving the transition towards a circular economy. pEPR shifts the burden of recycling costs from taxpayers to packaging producers and incentivises packaging producers to reduce their material footprint, use more recyclable packaging, and transition to reuse by requiring them to bear the end-of-life costs associated with packaging that they place on the market.
 
pEPR came into force on 01 January 2025.
 
Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) for drinks containers - The proposed Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) for drinks containers is industry led and currently covers England, Northern Ireland, and Scotland. It introduces a redeemable deposit on Single-use in-scope drinks containers which can be claimed back by customers when returned. This will reduce litter, increase recycling rates, create high quality recyclate for producers and promote a circular economy.
The regulations for England and Northern Ireland came into force in January 2025. The scheme will launch in October 2027.

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Brief Description:
This government is committed to creating a roadmap to a circular economy – a future where we keep our resources in use for longer; waste is reduced; we accelerate the path to net zero; we see investment in critical infrastructure and green jobs; our economy prospers; and nature thrives.
 
In line with the waste hierarchy, after reduction, we must prioritise reuse and recycling before anything else. Biodegradable, compostable and pro-oxidant additive containing (PAC) plastics are inherently single use and though this Government has not yet made an assessment of what actions to take to address the challenges associated with Single-use plastic products, a circular economy approach means moving away from materials that can only be used once before being thrown away. If put in the domestic waste bin, these materials are likely to end up in landfill and can break down to release powerful greenhouse gases, such as methane. If mistakenly recycled with other plastics, they have the potential to damage the quality of the new products made from the recycled plastic.

Brief Description:
Biodegradable and Compostable Plastics
 
In April 2021 a response to the call for evidence on the need for standards for bio-based, biodegradable, and compostable plastics was published and can be found here: Standards for biodegradable, compostable and bio-based plastics: call for evidence - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
 
On biodegradable plastics, repeated and strong concerns were raised in the responses to the call for evidence regarding the extent to which plastics marketed as biodegradable actually biodegrade in the open environment. There is currently a lack of evidence these materials consistently break down in real world environments, so may be a source of plastic and microplastic pollution.
 
For compostable plastics, these must be treated in industrial composting facilities to be broken down and, when processed incorrectly, can be a source of microplastics and contaminate recycling streams. Currently there is insufficient industrial composting capacity throughout England to manage compostable plastics at end of life. Stakeholder engagement and responses to the call for evidence highlighted that even when compostable plastics are sent to industrial composters, they are often stripped out along with other plastics and landfilled or incinerated.

Brief Description:
Oxodegradable / Oxobiodegradable Plastics
These are now known as pro-oxidant additive containing (PAC) plastics.
In response to the 2019 call for evidence on the need for standards for bio-based, biodegradable, and compostable plastics, the majority of respondents, from a range of stakeholders, objected to the use of PAC plastics and many supported introducing a ban.
 
In 2019 a review conducted by the Hazardous Substances Advisory Committee (HSAC), the body that provides government with expert, objective advice on the science behind hazardous chemicals, concluded that a plastic which disintegrates more readily may be at odds with the current strategy of controlling losses to the environment and potentially compromise the quality of recycled plastics.
 
At the recommendation of Defra’s Chief Scientific Advisor, the Hazardous Substances Advisory Committee carried out a second review in 2024 to consider any evidence on this topic that had been produced since the first publication. The second review included a call for evidence, where evidence presented by academia, industry and government was reviewed to allow HSAC to draw their conclusions based on a well-rounded evidence base. The report is expected to be published this year.

Brief Description:
Reuse
Reuse is key to delivering our ambition of moving to a circular economy - a future where we keep our resources in use for longer; waste is reduced; we accelerate the path to net zero; we see investment in critical infrastructure and green jobs; our economy prospers; and nature thrives.
 
The Government is currently supporting the development of reuse/ refill schemes by industry, through our funding of WRAP who run the UKPP.

Specific Measures:
Targeted Products
■ Cosmetics and Personal Care Products
 
Brief Description:
Environmental Protection (Microbeads) (England) Regulations 2017
 
The Environmental Protection (Microbeads) (Scotland) 2018
 
Environmental Protection (Microbeads) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2018
 
The Environmental Protection (Microbeads) (Wales) 2018
 
Brief Description:
Bans in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland on the sale and manufacture of microbeads in rinse-off personal care products, helping to prevent billions of tiny plastic pieces from entering the ocean every year.
 
In a post-implementation review of the Environmental Protection (Microbeads) (England) Regulations 2017, the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs concluded that the legislation had met its objectives and should remain in place.
 
In Preparation:
The development of regulations to limit tyre wear emissions of particles depends on the development of an internationally recognised test procedure for measuring them. This issue is being examined by the Working Party on Pollution and Energy within the UN ECE, which includes UK officials from the Department for Transport, other international governments, and the automotive industry. A new methodology for measuring tyre abrasion was adopted within UN Regulation in June 2024. The UK is now co-chairing the work to develop internationally harmonised limits for the abrasion rate of tyres, based on this methodology.
 
The Environment Agency are investigating the extent to which tyre rubber from UK roads enters the environment, identifying the chemicals leached from tyre rubber that pose the greatest environmental risks, and prioritising these chemicals for consideration under the UK REACH Regulation. We are also continuing to support National Highways in future phases of its Research publications - National Highways and in its delivery of the Road Investment Strategy programme. This includes a focus on addressing those outfalls that pose a significant risk to the environment. National Highways has published its “2030 Water Quality Plan – Mitigating high risk outfalls and soakaways”, setting out the approach that it is taking to this issue. All road authorities have a responsibility to ensure that they do not pollute the environment, as set out under Pollution prevention for businesses - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
 
In Preparation:
In April 2024, the governments across the UK announced that they would develop regulations to reduce the microplastic lost to the environment through the improper disposal of wet-wipes containing plastic through the sewer system by banning their sale with exemptions for medical and industrial use.

■ Regulatory Measures (ex: production ban, Ban on use..etc)
Names of Actions: The Environmental Protection (Plastic Straws, Cotton Buds and Stirrers) (England) Regulations 2020
Targeted products: Plastic straws, cotton buds and stirrers.
 
Brief Description:
Restricts the supply of plastic straws, cotton buds and stirrers, with some exemptions, e.g. for medical reasons.

Names of Actions: The Environmental Protection (Plastic Plates etc. and Polystyrene Containers etc.) (England) Regulations 2023
 
Brief Description:
In October 2023, legislation was introduced banning the supply to the end user of single use plastic plates, trays, bowls, except when used as packaging, and banning the supply of Single-use plastic cutlery and balloon sticks, and certain types of polystyrene cups and food and beverage containers, in England.

Names of Actions: The Environmental Protection (Cotton Buds) (Scotland) 2019
Targeted Products: Cotton buds

Names of Actions: The Environmental Protection (Single-use Plastic Products) (Wales) Act | GOV.WALES
Targeted Products which came into force in 2023:

• Plates – this includes paper plates with a laminated plastic surface
• Cutlery – for example forks, spoons, knives
• Drinks stirrers – those designed for stirring drinks or liquid food
• Cups made of expanded or foamed extruded polystyrene
• Takeaway food containers made of expanded or foamed extruded polystyrene
• Sticks for balloons
• Plastic-stemmed cotton buds
• Drinking straws

Targeted products due to come into force in 2026:

• Plastic Single-use carrier bags
• Polystyrene lids for cups and takeaway food containers
• Oxo-degradable plastic products

In 2025 single use vapes, which also contain plastic, will be banned under the Environmental Protection (Single-use Vapes) (Wales) Regulations 2024.
The supply of single use wet wipes containing plastic will be prohibitied under the Environmental Protection (Single-use Plastic Products) (Wet Wipes) (Wales) Regulations 2025.

■ Economic Measures (levy, tax, subsidies…etc.)
Names of Actions: The Single Use Carrier Bags Charges (England) (Amendment) Order 2021
Targeted Products: Single use plastic carrier bags
 
Brief Description: Since 5th October 2015, large retailers in England have been required by law to report on and charge 5p for all single use plastic carrier bags. On 21 May 2021, the charge was increased to 10p and extended to all retailers.

Names of Actions: Single Use Carrier Bags Charge legislation. In Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales this applies to all retailers:
Targeted Products: Single use plastic carrier bags
 
Brief Description:
From 1 April 2022, the Single Use Carrier Bag Charge (Amendment and Revocation) Regulations (Northern Ireland) were introduced. Under this legislation the levy increased, and retailers must charge a minimum of 25 pence for each new carrier bag with a retail price of five pounds or less. Our Carrier Bag Levy is the most extensive of its kind across the UK and extends to bags of all materials, not just plastic bags.
 
Scotland: the carrier bag minimum charge increased from 5p to 10p in April 2021.
 
Wales: In 2019 the efficacy of the bag charge was reviewed to inform future actions regarding changes in levies or charging scope. An amendment to the Single Use Carrier Bags Charge (Wales) Regulations 2010 was made in 2020 to include an exemption for carrier bags used for the purposes of delivering or collecting goods such as groceries.In 2026, single use plastic bags will be banned under the Environmental Protection (Single-use Plastic Products) (Wales) Bill.

Names of Actions: Plastic Packaging Tax
Targeted Products: Packaging made predominantly from plastic by weight

Brief Description: In April 2022 the UK introduced a plastic packaging tax charged at £200 per tonne of plastic packaging that contains less than 30% recycled plastic. This is paid by manufacturers and importers of plastic packaging and will help encourage the use of recycled plastic instead of virgin material within plastic packaging. On 1 April 2025, the rate of the tax increased in line with CPI inflation to £223.69 per tonne.

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Specific Measures:

Specific Measures:
The following acts and regulations are in place to enforce proper waste management:

1. Pollution Prevention and Control Act 1999. Regulation making powers for a pollution control system and for other measures to prevent and control pollution.
2. Environmental Protection Act 1990. Defines the structure and authority for waste management and control of emissions into the environment.
3. Environment Act 1995 established the Environment Agency and gave it and other appropriate regulators the powers to enforce against illegal activities.

Names of Actions: International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL)
 
Brief Description:
The UK is a signatory to the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL) under the International Maritime Organization (IMO), the main international convention covering prevention of pollution of the marine environment by ships from operational or accidental causes. MARPOL Annex V seeks to eliminate and reduce the amount of garbage being discharged into the sea from ships and includes a ban on the disposal into the sea of plastics and fishing gear, in addition to other types of garbage.

Names of Actions: UK Regulations on the Prevention of Pollution by Garbage from Ships 2020 (S.I. 2020/621)
 
Brief Description:
The UK’s Regulations on the Prevention of Pollution by Garbage from Ships 2020 (S.I. 2020/621) brings in the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution by Garbage from Ships (MARPOL Annex V) into UK law.
 
Under the Regulations, discharge of all garbage into the sea is prohibited with very limited exceptions. In all cases the discharge of plastic is prohibited.
 
The Regulations require fishing vessels to record the discharge or loss of fishing gear in the Garbage Record Book or ship’s logbook and require fishing vessels to report the accidental loss or discharge of fishing gear which poses a significant threat to the marine environment or navigation.
 
Under the Regulations it is an offence to fail to report the discharge of fishing gear which poses a significant threat to the marine environment or navigation to (a) the ship’s flag State and (b) any coastal state who has jurisdiction over the waters where the loss or discharge occurs.

Names of Actions: The UK’s Port Waste Reception Facilities Regulations (S.I 2003/1809)
 
Brief Description:
The UK’s Port Waste Reception Facilities Regulations (S.I. 2003/1809) put legal obligations on ports and vessels to manage ship generated waste. All ports and terminals must provide adequate Port Waste Reception Facilities for waste generated by ships. Ships including fishing vessels are required to deliver their ship generated waste to the port waste reception facilities.
 
Links to Regulations:
The Merchant Shipping and Fishing Vessels (Port Waste Reception Facilities) Regulations 2003 (S.I. 2003/1809), further information can be found here.
 
The Merchant Shipping (Prevention of Pollution by Garbage from Ships) Regulations 2020 (S.I. 2020/621), further information can be found here.

Names of Actions: Plastic Pellets
 
Brief Description:
Plastic pellets (nurdles) are the basic feedstock used in the production of plastic items. They can be lost from the supply chain and enter the environment. It’s estimated that up to 53 billion nurdles are lost each year, and they are one of the biggest sources of microplastic in the marine environment. To address this issue, the administrations supported the development of a Publicly Available Specification, PAS 510: 2021, developed by the British Standards Institution, which sets out how any business handling or managing pellets can reduce pellet loss. This is the first of its kind and was published in July 2021.
 
The UK worked with the British-Irish Council, OSPAR and the plastics industry to support the development of an international certification scheme to implement the fundamental requirements of this standard, ensuring that pellet loss is prevented and any accidental spills are cleaned up effectively. This has been supported with the adoption of the OSPAR Recommendation 2021/06 on the reduction of plastic pellet loss into the marine environment.
 
In 2019, the British-Irish Council Ministers recognised the need to address pellets as a source of microplastics and committed to learn from a trial supply-chain approach in Scotland.

Specific Measures: Trapping or Screening of Drainage / Rivers
 
Brief Description:
Many storm overflows which discharge into rivers or the sea from the combined sewerage system in England do have screens. The requirement for screens is set as a condition of the Environmental Permit for discharge.
 
Trapping or screening drainage / rivers can result in the retention of solids and can create a maintenance issue. The preferred option is to deal with litter / flushed items at source, although not always practicable.

Specific Measures: Beach Cleans
 
Brief Description:
The UK Government funds the Marine Conservation Society to record litter from sections of our coast which helps us monitor the levels and trends of plastic pollution across several years. This data is used in combination with other monitoring data to inform our decisions about how to tackle marine litter. The annual beach litter monitoring happens four times a year and follows OSPAR beach monitoring guidelines.
 
The Great British Beach Clean is a week-long citizen science event, where hundreds of beach cleans take place up and down the UK. We welcome these efforts which provide valuable citizen science data and encourage more people to become stewards of the marine environment.
 
The Scottish Government also funds Local Coastal partnerships around the coastline to work with local businesses, organisations and volunteers, to support and facilitate beach cleans.

Specific Measures:
The Great Nurdle Hunt
The Big Microplastic Survey
International Pellet Watch

Brief Description:
The Great Nurdle Hunt tracks the volume of nurdles on beaches. The purpose of the Hunt is to collect data on the nurdles found on beaches around the world and use this to demonstrate the problem of plastic and microplastic pollution. The Hunt is run by Fidra, an environmental charity based in Scotland, working in conjunction with various organisations in Scotland and the wider UK.
 
The Big Microplastics Survey is an international citizen science project with the objective of collecting data on microplastic pollution. It began in 2018 at the University of Portsmouth and is currently directed by the University and Just One Ocean. The success of the Survey depends on the contributions of volunteer surveyors around the world who collect samples from coastal and riverside sites.
 
Various universities in the UK contribute to the International Pellet Watch, a volunteer-based global monitoring program collecting data on persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and other plastic pollutants.

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Specific Measures:
Fishing for Litter
 
The UK supports Fishing for Litter, and the development of similar local schemes. This is a voluntary, unpaid litter bycatch removal scheme by commercial fishermen, run by KIMO UK, which provides fishing boats with bags to collect marine-sourced litter found at sea during normal fishing operations and arranges for waste disposal.

Specific Measures:
Global Ghost Gear Initiative + Food and Agriculture Organisation
 
In 2017, the UK signed up to the Global Ghost Gear Initiative (GGGI), the world-renowned experts and pioneering alliance of the fishing industry, private companies, NGOs and governments working to solve the global abandoned, lost and discarded fishing gear (ALDFG) problem. We collaborate with GGGI on regional interventions via technical workshops, bespoke training and other outreach initiatives.
 
The UK supports the Global Ghost Gear Initiative (GGGI) and the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) international best practices outlined in the GGGI Best Practice Framework for the Management of Fishing Gear and the FAO Voluntary Guidelines for the Marking of Fishing Gear. The UK Commissioned OECD Report on ghost gear made recommendations to the G7 on how members can tackle ghost gear, including by joining the GGGI and by implementing the FAO guidelines.
 
INdIGO project
 
The INdIGO project (Innovative Fishing Gear for Oceans) was a multi-year project funded by the European Regional Development Fund (total budget of €4.2 million, including 2.9 million ERDF) that ran until June 2023, and involved a range of partner institutions are involved across France and England, including Cefas. The aim of the project was to develop the first fishing gear with a controlled lifespan that is biodegradable in the marine environment, and to define a strategy to improve the recycling of fishing gear at the end of its life and to promote a circular economy. Two prototypes of biodegradable nets in the marine environment were produced as part of the project with applications for both the fishing and the aquaculture/mariculture industry. 73% of fishermen interviewed would be interested in using biodegradable fishing gear in the near future. Some of INdIGO activities will continue as part of the Free LitterAT project (Advancing towards litter-free Atlantic coastal communities by preventing and reducing macro and micro litter) ending in 2026.

Specific Measures:
Odyssey Innovation
 
The UK has worked with Odyssey Innovation (OI), a leading organisation with a goal of tackling marine plastic pollution. OI is a member of our industry expert Steering Group on end-of-life fishing gear.
 
In 2022, OI delivered a Welsh Government-funded pilot recycling scheme for fishing gear which primarily focused on end-of-life fishing gear. However, ALDFG is collected as part of the service. Approximately 12 harbours are now included within the scheme, with each harbour having its own dedicated storage receptacle and a regular collection throughout the year. Since 2022, over 12 tons of waste has been collected and recycled through this scheme.

Brief Description:
The UK’s Port Waste Reception Facilities Regulations (S.I 2003/1809)
 
Links to the following regulations can be found above:
The Merchant Shipping and Fishing Vessels (Port Waste Reception Facilities) Regulations 2003 (S.I. 2003/1809), further information can be found here.
 
The Merchant Shipping (Prevention of Pollution by Garbage from Ships) Regulations 2020 (S.I. 2020/621), further information can be found here.

• The Merchant Shipping and Fishing Vessels (Port Waste Reception Facilities) Regulations 2003
• The Merchant Shipping (Safety of Navigation) Regulations 2020

Brief Description:
The UK’s Port Waste Reception Facilities Regulations (S.I. 2003/1809) put legal obligations on ports and vessels to manage ship generated waste. All ports and terminals must provide adequate Port Waste Reception Facilities for waste generated by ships. Ships including fishing vessels are required to deliver their ship generated waste to the port waste reception facilities.

Specific Measures:
Domestic
 
Brief Description:
International
The UK has supported the Tide Turners Plastic Challenge, an environmental education and youth empowerment programme delivered by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), in partnership with organisations such as the World Organisation of the Scouts Movement (WOSM), the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGS), and specific in-country partners. The objective of this programme is to influence behaviour change, share knowledge, build awareness, and promote inclusive environmental stewardship in young people – giving them a voice in the fight against plastic pollution. So far over 900,000 young people have participated in the challenge, with participants going on to lead community, regional, national and international advocacy campaigns.

Specific Measures:

• Plastics Research and Innovation Fund (PRIF)
• Plastics and Waste Investment Fund
• Smart Sustainable Plastic Packaging (SSPP)
• Agenda Setting Fellow
• Sustainable Manufacturing and Environmental Pollution (SMEP)

Brief Description:
The UK put together a package of over £100m for research and innovation to tackle the issues that arise from plastic waste:

• £20m was set aside in 2018 through the Plastics Research and Innovation Fund (PRIF - coordinated by Innovate UK and EPSRC) which aimed to reduce the environmental costs of plastic and litter, focusing on problematic plastics. A further £20 was made available in 2019/20 for the Plastics and Waste Investment Fund which will complement the PRIF, focusing on research and development to help business transition away from polluting plastics. This included £10m specifically to pioneer innovative approaches to boosting recycling and reducing litter.
• UKRI’s Smart Sustainable Plastic Packaging (SSPP) Challenge has invested in sustainable plastics packaging research and innovation. Since its inception in 2020, SSPP has deployed almost £60m of public funding – and has leverage over £275m of private money – to support innovation to deliver a step change in the UK’s ability to reduce, reuse and recycle plastic packaging waste. The challenge has funded over 80 projects from early-stage research to large scale demonstrators. Example funded projects:
  • Berry Global’s new plant in Leamington Spa is the world’s first closed-loop system to mechanically recycle post-consumer polypropylene packaging waste back into food-grade recyclate.
  • ReNew ELP, a world-first, commercial scale chemical recycling plant can deal with ‘unrecyclable’ formats such as flexible and multi-layer films is in the final stages of commissioning.
  • Within the reuse and refill space a number of projects ranging from self-service refill in store (GoUnpackaged and the Refill Coalition) to pre-fill and return models (Reposits’ homecare and beauty products and Able & Cole’s refillable PP Milk bottle).
  • Plastic-i who use satellite data and Artificial Intelligence to detect, map, and classify floating plastic debris, it will provide decision makers and clean-up operators with actionable insights. In addition, the SSPP also funded a series of workshops and a report on the role of remote sensing in shaping marine plastic litter polices and interventions.

The SSPP challenge came to an end in March 2025 delivering on its objectives and having the following example impacts:

• A 10% increase in the UK recycling capacity compared to 2020, with 100,000 tonnes/year of new recycling capacity.
• Predicted CO₂ saving of 1.5m tonnes between 2025 and 2030.
• Potential for 17m units of single use packaging to be replaced/avoided.
• Recognition of the SSPP projects around the globe with 40 internation awards, over 250 public engagement activities and over 100 academic publications.
• Increasing full supply chain engagement and facilitating cross sector collaboration, with over 300 new collaborations enabled.
• Innovate UK, partnering with NERC, have funded an Agenda Setting Fellow in plastic, Professor Steve Fletcher. The aim of the agenda-setting fellowship is to develop a research and innovation (R&I) agenda that complements and supports the objectives of the United Nations’ (UN) treaty to end plastic pollution.
• The SMEP programme, delivered in partnership with the United Nations Conference for Trade and Development, has committed up to £9m to address plastics pollution. SMEP is supporting 9 plastics pollution mitigation solutions across Ghana, Zimbabwe, Nigeria, Kenya and Democratic Republic of Congo and Nepal. Plastics solutions underway include establishing a multi-stakeholder research and development hub for packaging waste; plastics waste used as feedstock for roofing and construction materials; cost-effective and high performance biodegradable mulch film; re-used plastic for ‘plastic timber’ products, including for boat building; biodegradable fishing nets; affordable tech for plastic waste collection from rivers; tech-enabled plastic waste management systems; compostable lateral flow test cassettes; and tech-enabled waste management to repurpose plastics waste.

 
International
Innovate UK has developed and funded work on sustainable plastic packaging in India as well as South Africa, Kenya, Chile, Mexico and Colombia in partnership with WRAP.
 
Specifically, Innovate UK has provided £279,000 funding to establish a Plastics Pact in India and more than £3.2m for a dedicated Global Sustainable Plastic Packaging Programme to demonstrate demand driven innovation by sourcing innovation that addresses specific targets to reduce plastic pollution in Asia, Africa and Latin America. This has included the following support for research and innovation into solutions to tackle the global plastics challenge:

• Funding has been awarded to five UK based innovators to deliver programmes with in-country partners that tackle specific plastic related issues within India, Chile, South Africa and Kenya.
• A new Plastic Pacts has been established in Columbia and Mexican.
• In addition, existing Plastic Pacts in India, Kenya, South Africa and Chile are being supported to stimulate collaboration, convene pilots, identify technical experts required to deliver innovations and engage Pact members in adopting innovation through this programme.
• A business-to-business innovation and knowledge sharing network has been established that brings together 20 global initiatives under the ‘3Cs network’. It includes all members of the global Plastics Pacts and National Plastic Action Partnership (NPAPs). It provides a forum to exchange innovations and knowledge between Plastics Pact members around the world through quarterly exchange events.

As part of SSPP’s and Innovate UK’s on-going engagement with India, a Global Expert Mission (GEM) to India happened in May 2023, and a Global Business Innovation Programme (GBIP) occurred in September 2024. The GEM helped to understand the challenges of sustainably managing plastic waste in India and sought opportunities for collaborative innovation between the two countries. Building on this the GBIP aims to help UK sustainable plastic businesses to grow and scale on a global stage through building R&D and innovation collaborations and partnerships. The GBIP to India is starting to realise some very encouraging outcomes with partnerships and collaborations between businesses emerging.
 
In March 2025, SSPP and Innovate UK, building on the success of the India trips, held a Sustainable Plastics GEM in South Africa to bring together key stakeholders to investigate the research and innovation ecosystem in South Africa’s plastics sector and economy, to identify areas of opportunity and shared challenges. The Mission provided an opportunity to showcase many of the innovation technologies that the UK are spearheading through Innovate UK and its Smart Sustainable Plastic Packaging Challenge (SSPP) in the field of circular plastics.
 
Public Private Partnerships (PPP)
The UK is the largest donor to the Global Plastic Action Partnership (GPAP), the World Economic Forum's flagship plastic pollution programme that brings together governments, businesses, civil society and academia to tackle plastic pollution and increase investment in waste management and the circular economy transition in ODA-eligible countries. This is achieved through (1) the creation of public-private stakeholder collaboration platforms called National Plastic Action Partnerships (NPAPs) and (2) targeted training and assistance for informal waste sector workers.
 
GPAP’s partnerships focus on data baselining, mobilising funding and leveraging multisectoral expertise in-country to create roadmaps towards a circular economy. In January 2025, GPAP announced it had reached its target to established 25 partnerships by 2025. Across these partnerships GPAP has supported 41 pollution policies across the public and private sector, including extended producer responsibility (EPR) schemes that will unlock increased public investment in waste management, and members across the GPAP network have committed £2.37 billion to initiatives tackling plastic pollution. The UK has worked with GPAP to fund direct, targeted support to 12,000 informal waste-sector workers across 17 countries through health and safety training, financial literacy and business education, access to microfinance, pension schemes and health insurance.
 
The partnership is funded and supported by the governments of Canada and the United Kingdom as well as corporate partners Coca-Cola and Nestlé. The UK plays a strategic role on the Global Steering Board.

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Specific Measures:
■ Established a Monitoring/Reporting Program/Mechanism
■ Regularly Conduct Monitoring/Estimation/Scientific Research
■ Conduct Monitoring/Scientific Research
 
Scope: ■ Local ■ National ■ Regional ■ International
■ Macro Plastics ■ Microplastics (<5mm) ■ Ocean ■（Others: Rivers, Soils, Air etc.）

Brief Description:
The UK water industry is investing record levels in improving infrastructure, including adding screening to overflows, reducing the number of discharges from storm overflows, and reducing the ecological harm they cause. In addition, campaigns by water companies to educate the public and businesses on items and material that should not be disposed of in sewers, avoiding blockage and reducing items that might otherwise pass through sewers and treatment processes.
 
The Government announced a new Water (Special Measures) Bill, which will turn around the performance of water companies, in the King’s Speech. The Bill will strengthen regulation, give the water regulator new powers to ban the payment of bonuses if environmental standards are not met and increase accountability for water executives. These are the first critical steps in enabling a long-term and transformative reset of the entire water sector.
 
As part of the Water Industry National Environment Programme, the Environment Agency works with water companies to develop investigations into microplastics. This began in 2020 with the Chemical Investigations Programme Phase 3, which investigated microplastics in wastewater treatment works for the first time. In PR24, microplastics have been recognised as a significant stand-alone issue, and a new WINEP microplastics driver has been created. Six investigations are planned between now and 2027, aiming to answer key questions:

• Are microplastics generated within wastewater treatment works through the attrition of plastic equipment?
• Do biologically aerated flooded filters, used in wastewater treatment, produce microplastics from the breakdown of plastic bio-beads?
• How are microplastics in sewage sludge affected by Advanced Anaerobic Digestion?
• How do emerging technologies for sewage sludge treatment affect microplastics?
• What is the path of microplastics from biosolids applied to land to soils and groundwater?
• How do microplastics travel from effluent discharged to ground through the groundwater aquifer?

 
Current Monitoring for the UK Marine Strategy, OSPAR and Environmental Improvement Plan:

1. Seafloor litter bycatch data is recorded during fisheries surveys, providing a spatial coverage of benthic macro-litter.
2. Beach litter monitoring. Macro and mesoplastics which have been littered, deposited from land (carried by wind, rivers, run off) or washed from the sea onto beaches are surveyed quarterly from around the UK mainland. Annual reports can be found here: https://randd.defra.gov.uk/
3. Sea surface litter monitoring. Floating litter fragments are monitored from the stomach contents of stranded Fulmar seabirds. Most reported strandings are from the Greater North Sea region, with little data from the Celtic Seas.
4. An indicator for assessing the prevalence of microplastics in sediments is under development, recently accepted at OSPAR regional convention.

 
Recent and Ongoing Research:

1. Concluded in 2021, a fishing and aquaculture gear inventory for the UK, and knowledge on the economics and process of recycling end-of-life fishing gear to allow an informed assessment of the impacts of a potential Extended Producer Responsibility scheme (The reports from this research on end-of-life fishing and aquaculture gear have been published here: Science Search (defra.gov.uk)).
2. Drawing on the existing Defra-commissioned gear inventory work, Seafish has been commissioned and completed (March 2025) a project to map the supply and value chains of all fishing and aquaculture gear used in the UK. The outputs will help to inform policy development to manage end of life fishing and aquaculture gear.
3. Fisheries consultants Poseidon have recently finished a Defra-commissioned project investigating the scale of marine litter originating from aquaculture. This project involved a review of the literature documenting litter release and stakeholder engagement with aquaculture industry representatives, local government, enforcement bodies, and OSPAR contracting parties. The report will be reviewed by OSPAR in 2025 and published thereafter.
4. Defining and evaluating the pathways of terrestrial litter to the marine environment - evidence review.
5. Re-classification of Abandoned, Lost, Discarded fishing gear (ALDFG) - UK case study (concluded 2023). Case study looking at data from Celtic sea and North sea to reclassify litter found into more detail to help develop more specific policy interventions. Recently published in the Marine Pollution Bulletin https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2025.118054.
6. Social research into fishing gear marking and reporting (concluded 2024). Understanding views of fishers in relation to causes to ALDFG and potential solutions to prevent losses at sea and retrieval.
7. The future of seafloor litter monitoring; adding value to existing survey work and developing innovation and technologies to build evidence for future monitoring methods (concluded 2024).
8. Literature review of the research on microplastics in the OSPAR maritime area (concluded 2021).
9. Using artificial intelligence and drones to enhance UK national beach litter monitoring (ongoing).

 
Currently funded relevant UK government research includes:

1. Bio-Plastic-Risk - Investigation of Biodegradable plastics as an environmental pollutant in terrestrial and marine environments (concluding 2025).
2. Tyre-Loss – Investigation into the prevalence and impact of tyre-wear particles in the marine environment (concluding 2025).
3. MINIMISE - Current and future effects of microplastics on marine ecosystems.

In response to current national and global concerns in relation to the environmental impact of microplastics National Highways undertook a review of academic research to date to understand the potential sources of microplastics from highways and to try to understand the scale of the problem. Initial findings have indicated that roads are potentially a significant source of microplastics into the environment with Tyre Particulate Wear the principal source although road markings and litter were also identified.
 
The Phase 1 report can be found here:
 
https://s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/assets.highwaysengland.co.uk/Knowledge+Compendium/Investigation+of+microplastics+from+brake+and+tyre+wear+in+road+runoff.pdf
 
National Highways has undertaken further work to better understand the presence and behaviour of microplastics in highway runoff. This includes field investigations aimed at quantifying the extent and nature of the issue.
 
Phase 2 of the research focused on assessing the scale of microplastic contamination in highway runoff and examining the factors that may influence their presence. The findings revealed that tyre wear particles (TWP) were detected in every environmental sample analysed. Other types of microplastics were found in all but one sample.
One notable observation was that microplastic concentrations were, on average, 40% higher in runoff from curved sections of the Strategic Road Network (SRN) compared to straight sections. However, this trend was not statistically significant due to variability between sampling sites.
 
The full Phase 2 report is available here:
https://nationalhighways.co.uk/media/patgtf1q/spats2-t0051-microplastics-phase-2-updated-final-report_v3.pdf
 
Building on the insights from Phase 2, National Highways has commissioned a third phase of research. This next phase aims to deepen understanding of the chemical composition of TWP and to quantify the rate at which these particles are generated.
 

OSPAR (Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic)
 
The UK monitors surface litter in the Greater North Sea by recording the volume and type of plastics found in the stomachs of the Northern Fulmar seabird. This data is reported to OSPAR to contribute to the monitoring of surface litter in the North Atlantic Maritime area.
 
The Ocean Country Partnership Programme (OCPP), is a bilateral technical assistance and capacity building programme using marine science to support countries to tackle marine pollution, support marine biodiversity and develop sustainable seafood in support of sustainable livelihoods. As of April 2025, more than £9m has been spent under OCPP directly on plastic pollution, supporting activities such as:

• Postgraduate degree scholarships with a focus on plastic pollution,
• Developing marine litter databases in Sri Lanka,
• Procuring microplastics laboratory equipment in Belize,
• Investigating Abandoned, Lost and otherwise Discarded Fishing Gear in the Maldives and,
• Researching how plastic pollution affects fishers in India.

 
The Global Ocean Accounts Partnership (GOAP) is a global multi-stakeholder partnership, which collaborates with partner countries to measure and value ocean natural capital and organise this data into 'ocean accounts'. A key deliverable is to ‘use [ocean] accounts to strengthen the transparency and integrity of the global agreement to end plastic pollution’. A small amount of UK funding to GOAP has received £10.4m of UK Blue Planet Fund, of which approximately (£1m has had a plastics focus, in ODA-eligible countries. This includes activities such as:

• Development of numerous marine plastics waste accounts in partner countries; including supporting OCPP (above) in Sri Lanka
• Creation of the Global Plastic and Waste Data Tracker
• Technical advisory support to multiple national delegations at INC-5
• Mainstreaming incorporation of plastics data into national frameworks
• Publishing numerous scientific papers, reports and strategies focusing on plastic waste data tracking.

Specific Measures:
Plastic Pollution Treaty
 
The UK has participated constructively in the negotiations for a new international, legally binding treaty on plastic pollution, taking an ambitious stance at all sessions of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC). The UK is also a founding member of the High Ambition Coalition to End Plastic Pollution, a group of over 60 countries calling for an ambitious and effective treaty that will end plastic pollution by 2040. The UK will continue to work with our partners in the High Ambition Coalition and other countries to reach an ambitious agreement at the resumed session, INC5.2, in 2025.
 
International Maritime Organisation (IMO)
 
The UK is active at the IMO debating the issue of Marine Plastic Litter and responding to requests for information via correspondence groups. In 2018, IMO adopted an Action Plan to address marine plastic litter from ships and in 2021 a Strategy to address marine plastic litter from ships.
 
The Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) adopted the Strategy, which sets out the ambitions to reduce marine plastic litter generated from, and retrieved by, fishing vessels; reduce shipping's contribution to marine plastic litter; and improve the effectiveness of port reception and facilities and treatment in reducing marine plastic litter.

The Convention on Biological Diversity
 
In February 2025, ahead of the conclusion of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) COP16, the UK published a full National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (NBSAP) that commits us to achieving all 23 targets of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KMGBF) at home. This includes the target to reduce pollution risks and the negative impact of pollution from all sources by 2030, to levels that are not harmful to biodiversity and ecosystem functions and services, considering cumulative effects, including by preventing, reducing, and working towards eliminating plastic pollution. The UK NBSAP for 2030 draws on the commitments made by the UK, the UK's Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies to summarise and emphasise our collective ambition and determination to work together to address biodiversity loss.
 
The UK also submitted a set of National Targets to the CBD on 1 August 2024. These sit alongside the UK NBSAP and include a subset of country-level commitments to illustrate the actions by which the GBF will be delivered in the UK. This is publicly available on the CBD Online Reporting Tool.
 
United Nations (UN)
SDGs
The UK is committed to SDG Target 14.1: ‘By 2025, prevent and significantly reduce marine pollution of all kinds, in particular from land-based activities, including marine debris and nutrient pollution’. Progress towards SDG14 targets will underpin the sustainable development of the ocean. At the United Nations Ocean Conference in June 2022, the United Kingdom showed its ongoing commitment to supporting the delivery of SDG14 through the following key announcements:

• The UK joined the High Level Panel for a Sustainable Ocean Economy, a global initiative which brings together governments, businesses, financial institutions, the science community and civil society to drive the transition to a sustainable ocean economy.
• FCDO will invest £154 million through the global Climate & Ocean Adaptation and Sustainable Transition (COAST) programme, to improve the adaptive capacities, climate resilience and prosperity of vulnerable coastal communities and achieve more sustainable and inclusive management of their marine and coastal environments and resources.

 
The UK has supported the UN Clean Seas Campaign and the Global Partnership on Plastic Pollution and Marine Litter.

Specific Measures:
OSPAR
 
As a Contracting Party to the OSPAR Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic, the UK develops and implements actions under the OSPAR Regional Action Plan for Marine Litter and participates in monitoring programmes to assess regional trends in marine litter. The UK attends the Intersessional Correspondence Group on Marine Litter to coordinate work to tackle this issue, developing and implementing actions under the OSPAR Regional Action Plan for Marine Litter. Contracting Parties agreed the North East Atlantic Environment Strategy 2030 in 2021, which includes strategic and operational marine litter objectives. Strategic Objective 4 is to “Prevent inputs of and significantly reduce marine litter, including microplastics, in the marine environment to reach levels that do not cause adverse impacts to the marine and coastal environment with the ultimate aim of eliminating inputs of litter”.
 
To achieve this, OSPAR adopted the second Regional Action Plan on Marine Litter in 2022, which sets out the programme of work on marine litter to 2030. The UK is leading and supporting on a number of actions to tackle marine litter from both land and sea-based sources, including an action on preventing and reducing marine litter from aquaculture and preventing the loss of plastic pellets in the supply chain. At the UN Ocean Conference in June 2022, OSPAR's Second Regional Action Plan on Marine litter was accepted as a UN Voluntary Commitment (Ocean Action 47413).
 
The RAP ML 2 will be implemented, as far as possible, in cooperation with other relevant work and initiatives from regional and global organisations, including UNEP and other Regional Seas Conventions, the International Maritime Organisation, the Convention on Biological Diversity, the European Union, Fisheries Regional Advisory Councils, North-East Atlantic Fisheries Commission and River Basin Commissions.
 
The UK has led and supported actions in the OSPAR Regional Action Plan on Marine Litter. The UK has led six actions:

1. Prevent and reduce marine litter from aquaculture
2. Marine litter from end-of-life recreational vessels
3. Microplastic pollution from artificial pitches,
4. Circular gear design and development of waste management of fishing and aquaculture gear
5. Preventing plastic pellet loss, and
6. Bridging the gap between monitoring and policy