In July 2025, OECD published Regional Plastics Outlook for Southeast and East Asia, a report aiming to offer a roadmap to support the design and implementation of plastic policies in the region. Below summarizes the nine key policy recommendation that ERIA-IGES team* extracted.
Southeast and East Asian region is a major global plastic pollution hotspot. Plastics use rose from 17 Mt in 1990 to 152 Mt in 2022; projected to hit 280 Mt by 2050 without stronger policies. Plastic leakage was 8.4 Mt/year (⅓ of global total) in 2022 and expected to increase by two-thirds by 2050 in the region. Urgent actions are required to curb rising plastic consumption, increased volumes of mismanaged waste, insufficient segregation at source, and limited recycling rates.
# | Policy Recommendations | Supporting Evidence / further explanation |
1 | Improve the efficiency of plastic waste segregation, collection, treatment, recycling, and final disposal: Aim for near-zero mismanaged waste. | Mismanaged waste accounts for 29% of the total in APT, with landfill at 37%, incineration at 21%, and recycling at 12%. Waste collection coverage in ASEAN Lower-Middle-Income Countries (LMIC) ranges from 50–70%, which is significantly lower than in High-Income Countries (HIC) and Upper-Middle-Income Countries (UMIC), where coverage is generally above 90%. |
2 | Adopt a comprehensive, stringent and whole-of-lifecycle policy approach to eliminate plastic leakage by 2050: Combine upstream and downstream measures. | OECD’s “High Stringency” scenario cuts plastics use by 28%, waste by 23%, and mismanaged waste by 98% from now until 2050; includes bans, taxes, plastic alternatives, eco-design, and EPR. |
3 | Implement strong upstream measures: Curb plastics demand and promote eco-design, while reinforcing the vital role of downstream measures. | Plastic taxes, substitution with other materials, circular eco-design policies, and reuse systems to decouple plastics use from economic growth. |
4 | Scale up recycling: Increase rates from 12% in 2022 to 54% by 2050. | Invest in sorting, cleaning, processing; create markets via recycled content targets (30% by 2040, 40% by 2050); enforce quality standards for recycled plastics. |
5 | Formalise the informal waste sector: Integrate informal workers into formal waste management systems. | Register waste pickers, offer protections and training; eliminate unsafe practices like open burning; expand collection coverage. |
6 | Mobilise finance and investments for a circular plastics economy: Substantial investments and interventions are required across the entire plastic lifecycle. | Need USD 1.1 trillion investments between 2022 and 2050; blended finance, plastic taxes, EPR to create stable class="table table-striped" revenue streams; regional cooperation vital. |
7 | Strengthen governance, enforcement, capacity, and data systems: To ensure effective implementation of plastic pollution policies. | Improve coordination, enforcement mandates, skill-building for officials; create robust monitoring and tracking of plastic flows. |
8 | Address microplastic leakage: To reduce emerging risks to the environment and human health. | Target tires, textiles, laundry filters, stormwater treatment; prioritise ‘no-regrets’ measures with multiple co-benefits. |
9 | Enhance regional and international cooperation: To tackle the transboundary nature of plastic pollution | Harmonise standards, labelling, and certification; use Basel Convention provisions; develop joint strategies to address transboundary leakage. |
*This summary is prepared by ERIA-IGES team including Ngoc-Bao Pham, Junko Toyoshima, Yasuhiko Hotta, Nirmala Menikpura, and Ayako Mizuno.
Programme Manager
In July 2025, OECD published Regional Plastics Outlook for Southeast and East Asia, a report aiming to offer a roadmap to support the design and implementation of plastic policies in the region. Below summarizes the nine key policy recommendation that ERIA-IGES team* extracted.
Southeast and East Asian region is a major global plastic pollution hotspot. Plastics use rose from 17 Mt in 1990 to 152 Mt in 2022; projected to hit 280 Mt by 2050 without stronger policies. Plastic leakage was 8.4 Mt/year (⅓ of global total) in 2022 and expected to increase by two-thirds by 2050 in the region. Urgent actions are required to curb rising plastic consumption, increased volumes of mismanaged waste, insufficient segregation at source, and limited recycling rates.
# | Policy Recommendations | Supporting Evidence / further explanation |
1 | Improve the efficiency of plastic waste segregation, collection, treatment, recycling, and final disposal: Aim for near-zero mismanaged waste. | Mismanaged waste accounts for 29% of the total in APT, with landfill at 37%, incineration at 21%, and recycling at 12%. Waste collection coverage in ASEAN Lower-Middle-Income Countries (LMIC) ranges from 50–70%, which is significantly lower than in High-Income Countries (HIC) and Upper-Middle-Income Countries (UMIC), where coverage is generally above 90%. |
2 | Adopt a comprehensive, stringent and whole-of-lifecycle policy approach to eliminate plastic leakage by 2050: Combine upstream and downstream measures. | OECD’s “High Stringency” scenario cuts plastics use by 28%, waste by 23%, and mismanaged waste by 98% from now until 2050; includes bans, taxes, plastic alternatives, eco-design, and EPR. |
3 | Implement strong upstream measures: Curb plastics demand and promote eco-design, while reinforcing the vital role of downstream measures. | Plastic taxes, substitution with other materials, circular eco-design policies, and reuse systems to decouple plastics use from economic growth. |
4 | Scale up recycling: Increase rates from 12% in 2022 to 54% by 2050. | Invest in sorting, cleaning, processing; create markets via recycled content targets (30% by 2040, 40% by 2050); enforce quality standards for recycled plastics. |
5 | Formalise the informal waste sector: Integrate informal workers into formal waste management systems. | Register waste pickers, offer protections and training; eliminate unsafe practices like open burning; expand collection coverage. |
6 | Mobilise finance and investments for a circular plastics economy: Substantial investments and interventions are required across the entire plastic lifecycle. | Need USD 1.1 trillion investments between 2022 and 2050; blended finance, plastic taxes, EPR to create stable class="table table-striped" revenue streams; regional cooperation vital. |
7 | Strengthen governance, enforcement, capacity, and data systems: To ensure effective implementation of plastic pollution policies. | Improve coordination, enforcement mandates, skill-building for officials; create robust monitoring and tracking of plastic flows. |
8 | Address microplastic leakage: To reduce emerging risks to the environment and human health. | Target tires, textiles, laundry filters, stormwater treatment; prioritise ‘no-regrets’ measures with multiple co-benefits. |
9 | Enhance regional and international cooperation: To tackle the transboundary nature of plastic pollution | Harmonise standards, labelling, and certification; use Basel Convention provisions; develop joint strategies to address transboundary leakage. |
*This summary is prepared by ERIA-IGES team including Ngoc-Bao Pham, Junko Toyoshima, Yasuhiko Hotta, Nirmala Menikpura, and Ayako Mizuno.
Programme Manager
