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Veryhigh High Medium Low Source: PMIOverall Score
1 Germany 87
2 Japan 85
3 France 79
4 United Kingdom 78
5 United States 77
6 Sweden 76
7 Australia 72
8 Finland 71
9 Chile 69
10 China 63
11 Vietnam 60
12 Thailand 60
13 Malaysia 59
AVERAGE 57
14 Brazil 56
15 Ghana 52
16 Indonesia 47
=17 Russian Federation 46
=17 South Africa 46
19 Argentina 42
20 India 42
21 Mexico 39
22 Egypt 34
23 Kenya 29
24 Jordan 28
25 Nigeria 21BacktoBlue,aninitiativeofEconomistImpactandTheNippon
Foundation,haslaunchedthePlasticsManagementIndex:
Evaluatingeffectivemanagementandsustainableuseof
plastics.Theindexranks 25 countriesacrossfivecontinents,
assessingthecapacityofa countrytominimiseplastics
mismanagementwhilepromotingtheoptimalproductionand
useofplasticasa resource.Theindexcomprises 12 indicators
and 44 sub-indicators.Itisalsosupportedbyanexecutive
andconsumersurveymeasuringattitudestoplasticuseand
management.
ThePMIisdesignedtobringattentiontogrowingglobalconcernsaroundtheuseofplasticandtohighlighthowits
managementcanbemadesustainable.
KEYFINDINGS- Germanyisthetopperformeroverallinplasticsmanagement.
- Europeleadsineffortstomanageplastics,whileAsia
lags—despiteproducinghalftheworld’splastics. - China,theworld’slargestplasticsproducer,is developingthe
capacitytomanageplasticsbutlagsonstakeholderengagement. - Mostlower-middle-incomecountriesstruggleacrossthe
board—thoughVietnamandGhanaoutperformed.
PLASTICS
MANAGEMENT
INDEX 2021
“We have created the PMI as a new benchmark for
measuring how countries are coping with plastics from cradle
to grave — just as the need, and interest, globally builds for
managing plastics across their entire lifecycle. Quite a few
countries continue to score poorly, though the index identifi es
real currents of hope. But equally, just because some countries
appear to be performing well does not mean they are doing
enough to address the issues.”
Naka Kondo
Policy and Insights, Economist Impact