This report identifies gaps to address marine plastics at each value chain stage and recommends actions to achieve a circular economy for plastics at the global level. Section 1 of the report summarises the gaps to address marine plastics in the areas of knowledge, policy, technology and action, and awareness and financing. To fill these gaps, the report recommends systemic actions along the plastic value chain, including material engineering, design of product and business models, consumer behaviour, waste management (collection, sorting, recycling, and disposal), and cross-cutting actions.
In addition to systemic actions on the whole plastic sector, priority actions are contextualised for eight focus areas:
The report indicates actions need to be implemented at the appropriate local, national, and regional scales, adjusting interventions according to the socio-economic conditions of the local context, taking into account the technical and financial availability, and tailored to the specific plastics product/application sector. In this way, a collective vision can be achieved towards a world without negative impacts from plastics, where plastics retain their highest value along the value chain, no plastics leak into and cause damage to the environment, and optimal circularity for plastic materials is reached around the globe.