20 Years of Plastic Policies Examined

Although there is an upwards trend in the number of policies to tackle ocean plastic pollution, little is known about how effective these policies are, especially in the long-term. In order to develop a globally binding commitment to reducing ocean plastic pollution, we must first understand which policies have been developed so far and learn from their successes and unintended consequences. In response to a call by the United Nations Environment Assembly, the Nicholas Institute at Duke University developed an inventory of policy responses to global plastic pollution as a basis to start monitoring progress.  The open access Plastics Policy Inventory contains a vast array of international policy documents to address ocean plastic pollution and is regularly updated to include new policy documents.  

20 Years of Government policies to the Worldwide Plastic Pollution Crisis