Can new standards and credits tackle the legacy of plastic pollution?

With low recycling rates and growth in primary production, experts are divided over whether plastic credits can help make the sector more sustainable, or if they will simply enable greenwashing

For decades, vast amounts of plastic waste collected in developed countries through recycling schemes have been shipped to developing countries with weaker waste management practices. The OECD estimates that 22 per cent of plastics worldwide leak into the environment and that only 9 per cent are effectively recycled. The rest ends up in landfill or is incinerated.