Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

Policies to reduce microplastics pollution in water Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

Microplastics are ubiquitous in the natural environment. This report synthesises the current state of knowledge on the sources, fate and risks of microplastics pollution. It then focuses on two sources of microplastics pollution, textile products and vehicle tyres, due to their substantial contribution to global microplastics emissions and currently largely absent policy frameworks to mitigate them.

Several best practices and technological solutions can be implemented along the lifecycle of textile products and vehicle tyres to mitigate releases to the environment. The report proposes policy insights on measures and strategies that could help minimise microplastics emitted unintentionally from products and their potential impacts on human health and ecosystems.