Trade-Related Policy Measures to Reduce Plastic Pollution: Building on the state of play

The report examines 93 unique plastic pollution reduction measures notified by nearly 70 WTO members. It finds that prohibitions on single-use plastics and import restrictions on plastic waste are the most common tools. The analysis highlights a lack of product diversity in current bans and suggests that WTO members could benefit from enhanced transparency, geographic expansion of successful measures, and the exploration of new thematic areas beyond common single-use items.

• Between 2009 and 2021, the WTO received 211 notifications of environment-related measures linked to plastics, which the authors filtered down to 93 unique measures specifically aiming to reduce plastic pollution.
• Plastic pollution reduction measures are globally distributed, with the highest shares of notifications coming from Asia (32%), Europe (25%), and Africa (20%). Developing members accounted for 60% of these measures, while developed members accounted for 34% and least developed countries for 5%.
• Bans and prohibitions are the most frequent policy instrument, appearing in 60 out of 93 identified measures. These target both plastic waste (12 measures) and other products (49 measures), primarily single-use items.
• The products most frequently targeted by notified measures are plastic bags (30 measures) and plastic waste (28 measures), followed by packaging, food containers, tableware, bottles, and straws.
• Prohibitions are often designed as economy-wide tools rather than trade restrictions, as most import bans are accompanied by domestic bans on sale, use, or manufacture.
• Governments use diverse criteria to define banned products, including material composition (e.g., non-biodegradability), physical properties (e.g., thickness thresholds for bags), and end-of-life considerations (e.g., recyclability).
• Bans typically include exemptions to protect specific sectors or needs, most commonly the medical sector, as well as agriculture, waste collection, and food packaging for perishable items.
• The introduction of bans varies in temporality, ranging from immediate effect to gradual phase-outs using transition periods or increasing thresholds for recycled content and bag thickness.
• Trade-related measures for plastic waste are heavily influenced by the Basel Convention Plastic Waste Amendments, with 79% of waste-related measures notified by developing countries.
• Beyond bans, other notified instruments include technical regulations for recycled content (e.g., in France and the US), labeling requirements for recyclability (e.g., in Lithuania and South Korea), subsidies for recycling (e.g., in Thailand and Romania), and green government procurement policies (e.g., in Japan).

APA

Baršauskaitė, I., & Irschlinger, T. (2023). Trade-Related Policy Measures to Reduce Plastic Pollution: Building on the state of play. International Institute for Sustainable Development. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/2023-05/trade-policy-reduce-plastic-pollution-state-of-play.pdf

Chicago

Baršauskaitė, Ieva, and Tristan Irschlinger. Trade-Related Policy Measures to Reduce Plastic Pollution: Building on the state of play. International Institute for Sustainable Development, 2023. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/2023-05/trade-policy-reduce-plastic-pollution-state-of-play.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Baršauskaitė |first1=Ieva |last2=Irschlinger |first2=Tristan |title=Trade-Related Policy Measures to Reduce Plastic Pollution: Building on the state of play |publisher=International Institute for Sustainable Development |date=May 2023 |url=https://www.iisd.org/system/files/2023-05/trade-policy-reduce-plastic-pollution-state-of-play.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{barauskait2023traderelated, author = {Baršauskaitė, Ieva and Irschlinger, Tristan}, title = {{Trade-Related Policy Measures to Reduce Plastic Pollution: Building on the state of play}}, institution = {International Institute for Sustainable Development}, year = {2023}, month = may, url = {https://www.iisd.org/system/files/2023-05/trade-policy-reduce-plastic-pollution-state-of-play.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }