Plastic pollution is everywhere—on city streets, along coastlines, in remote mountains, and deep in the ocean. It’s contaminating our drinking water, food, and even the air we breathe. Despite growing awareness, the global response has been underwhelming. What’s holding us back — and what can actually move the needle?
Barriers to government action
For governments, this growing crisis presents not just an environmental challenge, but also one of public health and long-term economic resilience.
There are some familiar barriers that continue to stall progress – building efficient waste and recycling systems is costly; corporate lobbying from plastic producers can delay or weaken regulations; and in many cases, plastic pollution simply isn’t understood or prioritised by the public.
On top of that, plastic is a transboundary issue and disparities in national regulations, enforcement, and waste management practices continue to undermine unified global efforts.
And then there’s another, often-overlooked reason:
Lack of consistent data
Regardless of how committed they may be, governments at all levels—from municipalities to national authorities—often lack baseline data on how plastic is produced, used, and discarded.
Waste tracking systems remain limited or non-existent. Informal waste collectors and small-scale initiatives frequently go unrecorded. When data does exist, it’s usually fragmented across multiple agencies (sometimes even using different definitions!), lacking the detail needed to identify which types of plastics and/or products are most problematic.
Without this knowledge, it’s nearly impossible to design effective policies, measure impact, or allocate resources wisely.
Data-driven plastic policies
To fill data gaps, more and more countries are turning to plastic « hotspotting » and national plastic source inventories. These tools help governments understand where plastic is leaking into the environment, what types of plastics are most detrimental, and which sectors or regions are most affected.
With this knowledge, governments can prioritise infrastructure investments, design and target legislation, and plan long-term solutions.
At EA Earth Action we have deep experience in helping public actors generate and use high-quality data to craft better plastic policies. For example, we have:
- Mapped plastic flows for Baltic Sea countries, informing the EU’s Regional Action Plan on Marine Litter;
- Co-developed UNEP/IUCN’s National Guidance for Plastic Pollution Hotspotting, now used by 25+ countries;
- Tailored hotspotting methods for mountain regions in Kyrgyzstan using local data and leakage models;
- Worked with WWF’s Plastic Smart Cities initiative to equip 25 Asian municipalities with tools to monitor and evaluate plastic reduction efforts; and
- Advised the Agence Française de Développement on assessing project impact and optimising funding for plastic mitigation.
Open data for broader impact
To further support civil servant decision-making, EA developed two powerful open-access tools:
Plasteax: A global database offering country-level, polymer-specific data on plastic production, recycling, and leakage across 74 countries. Freely available since October 2024, Plasteax helps identify leakage hotspots, set baselines, and track policy outcomes.
Packaging data hub: Launched in 2025, this public tool provides verified, cross-material packaging data to help agencies prepare for regulations and improve recycling systems.
Both tools are continually evolving — now combining top-down modelling with in-country, bottom-up data to provide a more detailed and actionable picture of national plastic flows. This makes them directly usable and actionable by governments at any level.
These tools will also support the goals of the Global Plastics Treaty, ensuring national commitments are grounded in evidence and that governments report on plastics (and the broader waste crisis) in a consistent way.
Ready to take action?
From global databases to hands-on support for municipalities, EA Earth Action turns data into real-world impact. When civil servants are equipped with the right tools, they are empowered to take bold, informed actions against plastic (and other forms of) pollution.
Certainly, data alone won’t solve the plastic crisis — but it makes the problem measurable, the solutions clearer, and the path forward more manageable. PhotoIf you’re a public sector actor seeking support with plastic pollution data, hotspotting, source inventories, or related policy development, visit www.e-a.earth or contact us directly at contact@e-a.earth — we’d be happy to help!
