12 February 2019 - This report presents global projections of materials use and their environmental consequences, providing a quantitative outlook to 2060 at the global, sectoral and regional levels for 61 different materials (biomass resources, fossil fuels, metals and non-metallic minerals).
Read more23 January 2019 - This report focuses on free-riding of producers or retailers, which the fast expansion of online sales in recent years has been exacerbating. Online sales are creating new free-riding opportunities as consumers are able to buy more easily from sellers in other countries.
Read more2018 - Plastics have become one of the most prolific materials on the planet: in 2015 we produced about 380 million tonnes of plastics globally, up from 2 million tonnes in the 1950s. This report looks at why this is the case and what we can do about it, as the pervasiveness of plastics is becoming an urgent public health and planetary problem.
Read moreOECD is tackling today’s most challenging resource management issues by promoting the sustainable use of materials in order to reduce their negative environmental impacts, encouraging resource efficiency and the transition towards a circular economy.
Key areas of work
webinar VIDEO RECORDING: RETHINKING PLASTIC RECYCLING IN A DISPOSABLE SOCIETY
The global production and use of plastics are expected to increase fourfold to 2050 and if the material is poorly managed at the end-of-life, this will potentially result in significantly increased impacts on the environment, especially through marine plastic litter.
On 23 January 2019, Peter Börkey, of the OECD Environment Directorate, addressed this pressing issue and the policy responses that are required to tackle it. The presentation was based on the OECD report Improving Markets for Recycled Plastics: Trends, Prospects and Policy Responses.
video: time to rethink plastic recycling
Why is only a fifth of plastic recycled? Collecting, sorting and processing waste plastic is expensive and some plastics cannot be recycled because of the hazardous chemicals used to make them. Watch our video to find out what the OECD recommends to tackle this problem.
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