“No more excuses”: Earth Action extends waste database to governments ahead of UN Global Plastic Treaty

Earth Action is collaborating with governments to integrate their plastic data into the consultancy and research organization’s Plasteax system, expanding the “world’s most comprehensive” plastic database. 

The collaboration allows governments to access high-quality data informing their waste policies, particularly in preparation for the final round of Global Plastic Treaty negotiations (INC-5) in Busan, South Korea, next month (November 25 – December 1) and post-ratification. 

Plasteax has been in use for over three years, offering reliable plastic production, leakage and waste management metrics to various high-profile organizations. 

Rhys Davies, product manager at EA Earth Action, tells Packaging Insights that governments and corporations will likely be required to scale up plastic reporting across supply chains and waste management systems post-treaty ratification. 

“It is important to have a harmonized database of plastic metrics to share for best practice across the world,” says Davies.

“The data has been used at previous INC meetings in Paris, Nairobi and Ottawa to engage delegates in the reality of both the scale and type of plastic pollution the treaty must begin to manage.”

Additionally, the data is already being used by teams at select Fortune 500 companies, leading sustainability consultancies such as Quantis and South Pole and organizations such as the World Economic Forum’s Global Plastic Action Partnership and WWF.

 The platform provides access to waste management data for 72 countries (Image credit: Tom Fisk, drone shot).Digitizing for data integration

Earth Action aggregates global data from multiple sources about plastic trade and production with local-national data about waste management systems and practices and uses its own methodology to determine the percentages of waste in different ways, whether it is managed waste, recycled, mismanaged waste or leaked into oceans and waterways.

“Then, throughout the year, from internal EA consulting projects and user feedback, we learn about discrepancies or areas of improvement and so we update and enhance the Plasteax data set with newer or more robust sources,” explains Davies.

“It’s important to recognize that the data isn’t perfect — we’re always trying to improve it, but we only provide data that we would use ourselves as good enough to make decisions.”

Over the past nine months, Earth Action has been working to digitize the platform so it is easier for FMCG companies to use and enable the integration of new data into the Plasteax model.

Infringement procedures 

In August, the EU commenced infringement procedures against all 27 EU member states for failing to meet legally binding collection and recycling targets. 

Research also suggests many multinational corporations are on course to miss a host of voluntary 2025 targets, including circularity and virgin plastic use.

The Plasteax platform aims to support corporations and governments in staying ahead of evolving plastic disclosure requirements. It provides access to waste management data for 72 countries, including nine different polymer types and six packaging categories.

Plasteax combines global-scale data with local information, creating a standardized model for reliable comparisons across regions and industries. By collaborating with governments, Earth Action ensures that this Unified Data Source harmonizes reporting data, offering consistent methodology and definitions globally.

Organizations responsible for and engaged in improving the world’s waste management practices can use Plasteax’s data to make meaningful decisions and reduce their plastic impact, stresses Davies.

“We already work with several of these organizations. However, in the wider world, even beyond plastics, in ESG topics in general, we often hear the excuse of data.”

“Organizations say they can’t make commitments or regulations because they don’t have access to the data they need, or if they have access, that it’s not good enough,” he adds.

Davies says that this is what Earth Action aims for: “We want to remove data as an excuse.”

“We are expecting governments to look at the data we have and, first, criticize it. Tell us where we can improve and hopefully provide us with new sources of information. Second, we’d like them to be able to say to organizations in their countries that data can’t be an excuse because they’re looking at it.”