Assessment of measures to reduce marine litter from single use plastics Final report and Annex ICF eunomia May 2018 EUROPEAN COMMISSION Directorate-General for Environment Directorate Unit B1 European Commission B-1049 Brussels Getting in touch with the EU In person All over the European Union there are hundreds of Europe Direct Information Centres. You can find the address of the centre nearest you at: http://europa.eu/contact On the phone or by e-mail Europe Direct is a service that answers your questions about the European Union. 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Assessment of measures to reduce marine litter from single use plastics Part of European Commission Study Contract ‘Plastics: Reuse, recycling and marine litter’ A report submitted by ICF in association with Eunomia Research & Consulting Ltd (Eunomia) Date: 30 May 2018 Job Number J320301241 ICF Consulting Services Limited Watling House 33 Cannon Street London EC4M 5SB T +44 (0)20 3096 4800 F +44 (0)20 3368 6960 www.icf.com i Document Control Document Title Assessment of measures to reduce marine litter from single use plastics Part of European Commission Study Contract ‘Plastics: Reuse, recycling and marine litter’ Job No. J320301241 Prepared by Timothy Elliott, Rebecca Burgess, Chiarina Darrah, Laurence Elliott, Chris Sherrington, Ayesha Bapasola, Mathilde Braddock, Mark Hilton Checked by Dominic Hogg, Rupert Haines, Andrew Jarvis, Lauren Duffield Date 30 May 2018 This report is the copyright of European Commission and has been prepared by ICF Consulting Services Ltd and Eunomia under contract to European Commission. The contents of this report may not be reproduced in whole or in part, nor passed to any other organisation or person without the specific prior written permission of European Commission. ICF has used reasonable skill and care in checking the accuracy and completeness of information supplied by the client or third parties in the course of this project under which the report was produced. ICF is however unable to warrant either the accuracy or completeness of such information supplied by the client or third parties, nor that it is fit for any purpose. ICF does not accept responsibility for any legal, commercial or other consequences that may arise directly or indirectly as a result of the use by ICF of inaccurate or incomplete information supplied by the client or third parties in the course of this project or its inclusion in this project or its inclusion in this report. The information and views set out in this report are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official opinion of the Commission. The Commission does not guarantee the accuracy of the data included in this study. Neither the Commission nor any person acting on the Commission’s behalf may be held responsible for the use which may be made of the information contained therein. i Abstract This report, and its annexes, set out the methodology used to assess the impacts of introducing a range of measures tackling single use plastics (SUP). The outputs of this study were used to underpin the impact assessment carried out by the Commission for the proposal for a ‘Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on the reduction of the impact of certain plastic products on the environment’. The report firstly details the approach taken to produce the results. The rationale for selecting the top ten priority SUP items for inclusion in scope of the Directive is then summarised. The baseline policies set to influence the consumption and management of SUPs are outlined, along with the approach to defining the range of measures that would feasibly tackle each of the top ten items. The detail of the assessment model to produce the quantitative results is then described. Finally, the definition of the main options modelled is given, followed by a presentation of the outcomes of the assessment and associated narrative. Ce rapport et ses annexes présentent la méthodologie utilisée pour évaluer les impacts de l'introduction d'une série de mesures concernant les plastiques à usage unique (PUU). Les résultats de ce rapport ont servi de base à l'étude d'impact réalisée par la Commission pour la proposition d’une «Directive du Parlement Européen et du Conseil concernant la réduction de l'impact environmental de certains produits plastiques». Le rapport détaille tout d'abord l'approche adoptée pour produire les résultats. Puis, la justification de la sélection des dix principaux produits PUU inclus dans le cadre de la directive est résumée. Les politiques de référence établies pour influencer la consommation et la gestion des PUU sont décrites, ainsi que l'approche adoptée pour définir l’ensemble des mesures qui permettraient d’adresser chacun des dix principaux articles. Le modèle d'évaluation qui a mené aux résultats quantitatifs est ensuite décrit en détail. Enfin, la définition des options principales incluses dans le modèle est donnée, suivie par une présentation des résultats de l'évaluation et de leur argumentation. ii Contents Executive summary ............................................................................................................... 1 ES1.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................. 1 ES1.2 Summary of Work on the Preceding Plastics Strategy ............................................ 1 ES1.3 Methodology to Assess the Impacts of Measures Related to SUPs ........................ 2 ES1.4 Definition of Key Options ........................................................................................ 3 ES1.5 Summary of Key Results ........................................................................................ 4 Synthèse ............................................................................................................................... 1 ES1.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................. 1 ES1.2 Synthèse du Travail Réalisé pour la Stratégie Plastiques ....................................... 1 ES1.3 Méthodologie pour Evaluer les Impacts des Mesures liées aux PUUs .................... 3 ES1.4 Definition des Options Clés ..................................................................................... 4 ES1.5 Résumé des Principaux Résultats .......................................................................... 5 1 Introduction ............................................................................................................. 9 2 Approach to the Analysis .......................................................................................10 2.1 Overarching Approach ...........................................................................................10 2.2 Research Methodology ..........................................................................................12 2.3 Assumptions ..........................................................................................................13 2.4 Limitations .............................................................................................................13 3 Single use Plastic Priority Products ........................................................................15 3.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................15 3.2 Approach to Identifying the Top Ten SUP Items in Beach Litter .............................15