Over the past several years, preventing the flow of plastic into the ocean has become a global priority, with science and data proving to be critical drivers of both commitments and strategies. The now-famous 2015 Science paper by Dr. Jenna Jambeck and her colleagues provided the first real estimates of the quantity and sources of plastic flow into the ocean each year. Their conclusion, that approximately eight million metric tons of plastic leak into the ocean each year, the majority from just five countries in Asia, has driven pledges and investments by governments, corporations, and civil society. And yet, five years on, these same actors are struggling to develop better, more targeted and actionable estimates of how much plastic waste is still entering the ocean, where it is coming from, and what actions are making a difference in stopping this flow. The inability to consistently understand the problem and measure impact in comparable ways hinders the ability to pursue collective action and make progress for the environment, people, and the global economy.
This report analyses the landscape of existing resources and tools needed to address the plastic waste crisis and illustrates where critical data gaps exists. It identifies four key needs that actors in this sector have and looks at how existing tools can meet one or more of these needs, highlighting examples for each. In particular, more needs to be done to create common language, align various approaches, and make them more practical and accessible to a wider audience.