World Environment Day: Open data on plastic pollution
Today is World Environment Day
[https://www.worldenvironmentday.global/], dedicated to raise
awareness on plastic pollution. The accumulation of plastic products
in the environment causes significant problems for wildlife and their
habitats as well as for human populations. Approximately 7 billion out
of the 9.2 billion tonnes of plastic produced from 1950 to 1917 ended
up as waste [https://www.unep.org/plastic-pollution] in nature.
Therefore, systematic change in the way we produce, use and dispose
plastic is crucial. 

Changing the way we reuse, recycle, reorient and diversify plastic is
proposed by the UN environment programme in their report ‘Turning
off the Tap: How the world can end plastic pollution and create a
circular economy’
[https://www.unep.org/resources/turning-off-tap-end-plastic-pollution-create-circular-economy].
By embracing a circular economy where plastics remain in circulation
for as long as possible, we can avoid or minimize waste and the
greenhouse gas emissions associated with plastic production.

According to this research, data and transparency regarding the global
market for plastic are essential for effective and safe management of
the plastic life cycle. For example, the OECD Global Plastics Outlook
[https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/environment/data/global-plastic-outlook_c0821f81-en]
database contains datasets on the lifecycle of plastics, from the use
of plastic materials to the leakage of plastic waste into the
environment and the greenhouse gas emissions. 

To strengthen the circular economy and combat plastic pollution,
insights into the lifecycle of plastic can provide valuable solutions
and drive action. The data.europa.eu [https://data.europa.eu/en]
portal provides more than 16.000 datasets on plastic pollution, which
you can find here
[https://data.europa.eu/data/datasets?locale=en&query=plastic%20pollution&page=1].

For more news and events, follow us on Twitter
[https://twitter.com/EU_opendata], Facebook
[https://www.facebook.com/data.europa.eu] and LinkedIn
[https://www.linkedin.com/company/publications-office-of-the-european-union/],
or subscribe to our newsletter
[https://data.europa.eu/en/newsletter].

Publication Date/Time
2023-06-05T09:00:00+00:00
Explore how open data can foster research and policy on solutions to
tackle plastic pollution and create a circular economy