As the world’s largest consumers and producers of plastics, the United States and China are pivotal for helping to close the loop on global plastic waste.

This lucky eighth issue of our InsightOut publication gathered 17 authors from China, the United States, and Europe to produce op-eds discussing how these two plastic superpowers can close the loop on plastic waste. Most authors focused on only one country’s potential actions, as plastic is not yet a robust area of bilateral cooperation. A common thread among these op-ed pieces is that solving the plastic pollution problem will require continued and coordinated action across three fronts — grassroots advocacy, industry innovation, and government policy.

This publication is part of the China Environment Forum’s Turning the Tide on Plastic Waste in Asia initiative. The Institute for Developing Economies was our key partner for this two-year plastic initiative, which was made possible with generous support from the Japan Foundation’s Center for Global Partnership.

Managing Editors: Clare Auld-Brokish, Yunyi Huang, Josie Liu, and Tongxin Zhu