Current commitments by governments and industry will only reduce the annual volume of plastic flowing into the ocean by about 7% by 2040. It is important that national and local governments commit to urgent and ambitious actions across the plastic life cycle and support upstream solutions. Government institutions can take action by:

• Creating an integrated policy and regulatory package with clear targets that ensures all aspects of the plastic life cycle approach are addressed.
• Eliminating unnecessary, avoidable, and harmful plastic products.
• Encouraging reuse models where relevant.
• Investing in and scaling up waste management infrastructure to ensure plastic waste is properly collected, sorted, and recycled.
• Embracing a common framework that includes national, regional and sector, and solution-specific targets in design standards for reuse and recycling, plastic labeling, and global trade cooperation.
• Committing to initiatives like the New Plastics Economy Global Commitment and the Global Partnership on Plastic Pollution and Marine Litter.
• Promoting the development of national and regional communication and advocacy campaigns that engage the public and inspire consumers to make concerted social and behavior changes to address the plastic pollution crisis.

Investors can play a key role in mobilizing finance and setting standards for businesses and industries to move away from harmful plastic production toward circular economies on plastics. Businesses and investors can take action by:

• Eliminating problematic, unnecessary, and harmful plastic packaging by embracing redesign, innovation, and new delivery models.
• Ensuring 100% of plastic packaging produced is reusable, recyclable, or compostable.
• Designing and producing plastic products with lower impacts in use and end-of-life phases and that can be recycled effectively, depending on geographic context.
• Investing in and improving upon technologies that allow for secondary materials to be transformed into high-value products with high-recyclability capabilities.
• Offering more affordable and sustainable alternatives to consumers, thereby increasing opportunities for consumers to shift away from single-use plastic products.
• Encouraging plastic reuse through extended producer responsibility and deposit-return schemes.
• Disclosing information and increasing transparency about the materials used in products produced.
• Committing to initiatives like the New Plastics Economy Global Commitment and the Global Partnership on Plastic Pollution and Marine Litter.

Investors can play a key role in mobilizing finance and setting standards for businesses and industries to move away from harmful plastic production toward circular economies on plastics. Businesses and investors can take action by:

• Eliminating problematic, unnecessary, and harmful plastic packaging by embracing redesign, innovation, and new delivery models.
• Ensuring 100% of plastic packaging produced is reusable, recyclable, or compostable.
• Designing and producing plastic products with lower impacts in use and end-of-life phases and that can be recycled effectively, depending on geographic context.
• Investing in and improving upon technologies that allow for secondary materials to be transformed into high-value products with high-recyclability capabilities.
• Offering more affordable and sustainable alternatives to consumers, thereby increasing opportunities for consumers to shift away from single-use plastic products.
• Encouraging plastic reuse through extended producer responsibility and deposit-return schemes.
• Disclosing information and increasing transparency about the materials used in products produced.
• Committing to initiatives like the New Plastics Economy Global Commitment and the Global Partnership on Plastic Pollution and Marine Litter.

Individual and community actions underpin the systemic change required to transition to a less plastic-dependent economy. Some actions individuals can take include:

• Shifting individual behavior change, transitioning from disposable to reusable products.
• Actively sorting waste and disposing into correctly labeled containers.
• Ensuring plastic packaging is reused, recycled, and composted.
• Using your voice and choice to let politicians know that you care about the plastic pollution issue and that they should too.
• Promoting the Plastic Smart Cities Initiative which mobilizes cities and regions to present plastic leakage into the natural environment.
• Moving away from purchasing over-packaged products.
• Purchasing items with extended warranties that can be repaired.