National guidance for plastic pollution hotspotting and shaping action

This guidance is co-developed by UNEP, IUCN, and the Life Cycle Initiative. It aims to provide a methodological framework for identifying ‘hotspots’ of plastic pollution, finding the leakages and their impacts along the entire plastic value chain, and then providing recommendations for action once these hotspots are identified. The guidance takes a holistic approach, covering the analysis of major types of plastic polymers, products, sectors, and geographical locations; the recommendations contain comprehensive sets of instruments and solutions from both upstream and downstream perspectives. It enables countries, regions, and cities to establish a baseline for benchmarking and tracking the progress of suggested interventions. Alongside with the guidance, modules and tools to help users for data collection, modelling, calculations and developing interventions are developed.