Overview:

Duke University's Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions has developed a Plastics Policy Inventory, a searchable database of national and sub-national public policy documents targeting plastic pollution. The Inventory tracks government responses to the plastic pollution problem, including information on the effectiveness of these responses.   

The Challenge:

Plastic pollution is a global problem that requires government intervention. Monitoring the status of the problem and efforts to address it, including existing activities and actions by governments, can be challenging.   

The Solution:

The Plastics Policy Inventory is a searchable database of international, national, and sub-national public policy documents targeting plastic pollution. The database also links to a library of published studies on the effectiveness of plastic pollution policies, country-specific case studies, a how-to guide on conducting plastic policy assessments, and other reports and briefs.   

Why this matters:

This innovation is crucial for holding governments accountable and supporting them to design new policies. It is an important reference for the ongoing negotiations on the Plastics Treaty and for countries aiming to improve their plastics and solid waste management strategies and policies. It supports SDG 14 (Life Below Water), particularly target 14.1 on reducing marine pollution by promoting and tracking plastic pollution policies.   

Results & impact:

With support from the OIC, the Plastics Policy Inventory has almost doubled in size, now including 894 policies in 40 languages, and a library of over 100 effectiveness studies. Since its creation in 2000, the Inventory webpage has consistently been the most viewed page on the Institute's website, averaging over 1,500 views per month. The Inventory and its associated reports have been used and cited by the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee on Plastic Pollution and the Global Partnership on Plastic, Pollution and Marine Litter Data Hub, demonstrating their impact on international efforts to address plastic pollution.

Replicate & scale up:

To ensure the Plastics Policy Inventory remains a valuable resource, ongoing partnership and funding for the Nicholas Institute are essential. This will allow for regular updates to the Inventory, incorporating new policies and conducting detailed content analysis. To enhance searchability and usefulness, policy instruments, plastic types targeted, and product lifecycle stages will be classified. The Institute will also conduct further analyses to support policymakers in developing effective solutions to the plastic crisis.

Lessons learned:

Throughout the project, the Institute continuously improved the Plastics Policy Inventory by refining and standardizing the processes for searching, screening, and analyzing policy documents. This focus on efficiency ensured the Inventory remained a valuable and up-to-date resource for policymakers and researchers.