Annual Reports

Highlights

• Updated the Harmonized Responsible Sourcing Framework for Recycled Materials to cover a broader set of recycled materials beyond plastics with new tools to support implementation.
• Expanded the Responsible Sourcing Initiative to India and Kenya, taking the number of active implementation projects to five in four countries by the close of 2025.
• Released new data and insights from the Plastics Circularity Investment Tracker (PCIT), capturing more than 9,200 private plastics circularity investment deals between 2023 and 2024.
• Supported the development of the International Finance Corporation’s Circular Economy Investment Tracker and the Harmonized Circular Economy Finance Guidelines.
• Launched an updated version of the GHG calculator, the Plastic Lifecycle Assessment Calculator for the Environment and Society (PLACES), to cover key markets in Latin America: Brazil, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, and Mexico.

Highlights:

• Launching the Harmonized Responsible Sourcing Framework for Recycled Plastics, the first global effort to guide the implementation of responsible sourcing practices in recycled plastics value chains.
• Initiating implementation projects in Viet Nam and Indonesia to improve the livelihoods of 12,500 and 10,000 informal waste sector workers in these countries respectively by 2026.
• Releasing a new edition of the Plastics Circularity Investment Tracker in cooperation with the International Finance Corporation (IFC), with 1,500+ financial decision makers accessing the tool to date.
• Co-hosting a series of webinars as part of the Financing Coordination Group to engage over 2,000 participants in understanding financing considerations and resource mobilization towards a Global Plastics Treaty.

Highlights:

• Launching the Responsible Sourcing Initiative, a multi-year program that addresses human rights issues in plastics recycling supply chains and improves livelihoods for informal waste workers.
• Releasing the award-winning Plastics Circularity Investment Tracker, a tool to track the scale of private investments into the plastics circular economy globally.
• Forging new and existing partnerships by joining hands with Lonely Whale to convene NextWave Plastics and building on our Urban Ocean® program with new cities onboarded.
• Expanding the scope of data and geographical coverage of our GHG calculator, PLACES, to better understand the climate impact of plastic waste in South and Southeast Asia.

Highlights:

• Launching the first Plastics Circularity Investment Tracker, revealing private investments in the plastics circular economy across emerging markets.
• Publishing ‘Mapping local plastic recycling supply chains: Insights from selected cities in India, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam’ in collaboration with Anthesis Group to better understand waste management systems in South and Southeast Asia
• Alongside the World Economic Forum’s Global Plastic Action Partnership, developing ‘Unlocking the plastics circular economy: Case studies on investment’ to showcase how private capital and policy can drive circular economy opportunities.
• Completing the initial Urban Ocean cohort, a program by Resilient Cities Network, Ocean Conservancy, and The Circulate Initiative to combat ocean plastic pollution and build resilient cities.

Highlights:

• Launching the Plastic Lifecycle Assessment Calculator for the Environment and Society (PLACES). The first of its kind in Asia, the calculator allows users to quantify the climate change and other environmental benefits of plastics recycling. 
• Advancing The Incubation Network’s Leakage and Livelihoods and Equality in Plastics Circularity, to ensure better livelihoods and social protection for waste workers, especially women.
• Publishing Circularity Assessment Protocol (CAP) reports for five cities in Southeast Asia and Latin America as part of the Urban Ocean program to inform decision-makers about community-level data on plastic usage and management.
• Collaborating on a research paper that measures the return on investment of investing in behavior change to boost recycling rates.
• Initiating the Closing the Data Gap Challenge with the Alliance to End Plastic Waste to support research addressing data gaps in municipal solid waste and plastic waste value chains in South and Southeast Asia.

Highlights:

• Expanding The Incubation Network to roughly 50 entrepreneurial support organizations that are catalyzing support to hundreds of ventures and innovators working to address plastic pollution in their communities. 
• Continuing The Incubation Network’s leading accelerator programs including the Plastics Data Challenge, yielding three Challenge finalists,  which have since further advanced their data-driven waste management and refill solutions in Indonesia and India. 
• Progressing on the Urban Ocean program with its first cohort cities across South and Southeast Asia and in Latin America to complete a gap assessment to better understand the needs of local waste management systems and to ensure a resilient recovery from COVID-19.

Highlights:

• Publicly introducing The Circulate Initiative and announcing The Incubation Network’s initial members at the Our Ocean Conference.
• The Incubation Network launching its first global program, the Plastics Data Challenge.
• Establishing The Impact Metrics Working Group with over 20 members from various sectors.
• Launching the Urban Ocean program in partnership with Ocean Conservancy and the Global Resilient Cities Network.
• The Incubation Network organizing the Circular Innovation Jam, a virtual ideation event across five countries.