The UNEP/IUCN National Guidance for Plastic Pollution Hotspotting and Shaping Action is a methodology to identify hotspots relies on data-collection and modelling, combining desktop research with field studies. The intention is to provide full transparency on key plastic-related metrics through the use of an open-source approach, which can be replicated over time and across regions. As part of testing, and to improve the approach to ease repeatability and scalability, IUCN carried out a pilot phase in eight locations in Eastern and Southern Africa, the Mediterranean and Southeast Asia.

This Report present the results of each pilot test in the context of its region, and benchmark across regions comparing the pilot sites’ results in terms of what is leaking, where is it leaking, and why is it leaking. It provides a high-level summary of results for each pilot assessment and map of key similarities and differences by hotspots.