Plastic Drawdown: A rapid assessment tool for developing national responses to plastic pollution when data availability is limited, as demonstrated in the Maldives

The Maldives is uniquely vulnerable to plastic pollution. A quarter of its GDP (24.5%) comes from tourism, and a further fifth (18%) from fisheries, both affected by plastic pollution.

With a population of 450,000 people spread over 347 inhabited islands, it also has a huge plastic waste problem. Open burning is common, and around 330 tonnes of waste are sent to the island of Thilafushi every day – much of which flows into the ocean.