Of the 8,300 million tonnes (Mt) of plastic pro-duced from 1950 to 2015, only 7% has been re-cycled while more than half has been discarded in landfill or leaked into the environment . Plastic leakage  into  the  environment  demonstrates  a  systemic  failure  of  the  take-make-dispose  con-sumption model and makes clear the need for a shift  towards  more  circular  material  flows .  With  10 Mt of plastics leaking into the ocean annually (Boucher & Friot, 2017) from a variety of sourc-es, improving the circularity of plastic flows, from source-to-sea is key . Companies,   organisations,   and   governments   are  taking  measures  to  tackle  plastic  pollu-tion .  However,  as  recognised  during  the  Third  United  Nations  Environment  Assembly  (UNEA-3,  Nairobi,  2017),  there  is  currently  no  standard  methodology to measure the extent of the plas-tic  problem .  Countries  and  other  stakeholders  were  encouraged  to  “cooperate  to  establish  common  definitions  and  harmonized  standards  and  methodologies  for  the  measurement  and  monitoring  of  marine  litter  and  microplastics” .Only if equipped with credible, salient and legiti-mate data and analyses can decision-makers un-derstand  their  current  status,  set  targets,  agree  and  implement  actions,  and  track  progress  to-wards targets over time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The production, use, waste and leakage of plas-tics  has  a  range  of  human  health,  socio-eco-nomic and environmental impacts . The evidence base on the scope and scale of current impacts is  growing .  The  predicted  rise  in  global  plastic  production  in  the  next  30  years  could  exacer-bate  those  impacts  or  contribute  to  new  im-pacts . The versatility, durability, malleability, light weight  and  low  cost  of  plastic  provides  many  benefits  to  society  (Figure  2) .  For  many  appli-cations, plastics can offer lower carbon footprint alternatives than comparable materials (e .g . light plastic  packaging  versus  heavier  glass  packag-ing) (FOEEUROPE, 2018) .

 

Plastics  enter  the  ocean  and  soils  from  various  sources and via various pathways . Two main cat-egories can be identified: the visible macroplas-tics  resulting  from  mismanagement  of  waste  disposal,  and  the  mostly  invisible  microplastics  released from various sources as a result of their use .