Research
Good solutions start with good evidence. These are the studies and reports that shaped how the world tackles plastic pollution. Each links to the original publication.
What the evidence tells us
- No single fix is enough, but together they work. Modelling published in Science in 2020 found that combining reduction, reuse, substitution, better collection and recycling could cut the plastic reaching the ocean by about 80 percent by 2040, using technology that already exists.
- Rivers are the pathway. More than a thousand rivers, many of them small and urban, carry about 80 percent of river plastic to the sea. Interception and waste collection in those catchments pays off.
- Recycling alone cannot keep up. Only a small share of all plastic ever made has been recycled, so design, reuse and reduction have to lead.
- Science changes laws. Research by 5 Gyres and others on microbeads in the Great Lakes helped lead to a US federal ban within a few years.
Research library
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A bacterium that degrades and assimilates poly(ethylene terephthalate)
Yoshida, S. et al. | Science | 2016
Discovery of Ideonella sakaiensis, a bacterium found at a bottle recycling site that feeds on PET. It launched the field of enzymatic recycling.
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A growing plastic smog, now estimated to be over 170 trillion plastic particles afloat in the world’s oceans
Eriksen, M. et al. (5 Gyres Institute) | PLOS ONE | 2023
A 40-year time series showing a steep rise since 2005, and a call for binding global action rather than voluntary measures.
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An engineered PET depolymerase to break down and recycle plastic bottles
Tournier, V. et al. | Nature | 2020
An engineered enzyme depolymerized 90 percent of PET in about 10 hours, and the recovered building blocks were made into new bottles. The science behind Carbios.
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Evaluating scenarios toward zero plastic pollution
Lau, W. et al. (Pew Charitable Trusts and SYSTEMIQ) | Science | 2020
Modelled every major intervention together and found that combining reduction, substitution, better collection and recycling could cut plastic flows to the ocean by about 80 percent by 2040. The basis of the report “Breaking the Plastic Wave”.
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Global Plastics Outlook
OECD | OECD Publishing | 2022
OECD projections of plastic use, waste and leakage by country and sector, with policy scenarios to 2060.
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More than 1000 rivers account for 80% of global riverine plastic emissions into the ocean
Meijer, L. et al. | Science Advances | 2021
Showed that plastic comes from many small and medium rivers, not just a handful of large ones, which shapes where interceptors and collection should go.
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Our World in Data: Plastic Pollution
Our World in Data | Our World in Data | Updated regularly
Free, regularly updated charts on plastic production, waste handling and ocean inputs by country. Good for presentations.
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Plastic pollution in the world’s oceans: more than 5 trillion plastic pieces weighing over 250,000 tons afloat at sea
Eriksen, M. et al. (5 Gyres Institute) | PLOS ONE | 2014
The first global estimate of floating ocean plastic, built from 5 Gyres expedition data.
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Plastic waste inputs from land into the ocean
Jambeck, J. et al. | Science | 2015
First global estimate of plastic entering the ocean from land, and a clear case that better waste management in fast-growing economies is the biggest lever.
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Plastic Waste Makers Index
Minderoo Foundation | Minderoo Foundation | 2021, updated 2023
Traces single-use plastic waste back to the companies producing the polymers and the banks financing them.
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Production, use, and fate of all plastics ever made
Geyer, R., Jambeck, J. and Law, K. L. | Science Advances | 2017
Counted all plastic made since 1950 and found only a small share has ever been recycled, making the case for design and reuse, not recycling alone.
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The New Plastics Economy: Rethinking the future of plastics
Ellen MacArthur Foundation and World Economic Forum | Ellen MacArthur Foundation | 2016
The report that put the circular economy for plastics on the business agenda, and led to the Global Commitment.
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Turning off the Tap: How the world can end plastic pollution and create a circular economy
UN Environment Programme | UNEP | 2023
UNEP’s roadmap: accelerate reuse, recycling and substitution, and it estimates plastic pollution could fall by 80 percent by 2040.
Researchers can also send us new peer-reviewed work on solutions. Send a study