This research paper offers an overview of some of the main standards and standardization initiatives related to plastics, identifies some of the gaps in the landscape of these standards, and highlights the potential role and limitations of standards in combatting plastics pollution. It also highlights the need for more involvement by governments to define priorities for standard-setting, such as supporting efforts to phase out certain types of plastics, to promote greater reusability of plastic products, recycling, use of recycled plastics and non-plastic substitutes, and to provide clear roadmaps for future work.
Without such roadmaps, and a complementary regulatory and policy framework, standards on their own cannot provide a solution to the challenge of plastics pollution. The report, therefore, provides recommendations for enhancing the impact and effectiveness of standardization and highlights the role standards and other instruments could perform in support of a possible future global treaty on plastic pollution.