Welcome to the Pathways downloads page
The Breaking the Plastic Wave Pathways Tool ('Pathways') is a free application designed to help assess the effectiveness of plastic reduction strategies from local to global scales. From these pages you can download the application software and example data input files to run the model.
Plastic pollution is a pervasive global problem, deeply intertwined with many aspects human life. The Pew Charitable Trusts' 2020 report Breaking the Plastic Wave (BPW), for which Professor Richard Bailey (University of Oxford) was a key collaborator, found that without concerted action the amount of plastic entering the ocean could triple to 29 million metric tonnes per year by 2040. The report also concluded that with systemic change throughout the plastics value chain this amount could be reduced by 80% within the same timeframe, using existing solutions and technologies. The required solutions vary by location and scale of application, and to ensure effective actions are undertaken it is crucial to first understand how materials flow through the value chain from production to end-of-life. In response to this need Pew and Professor Bailey further developed the underlying model used in BPW, creating the Breaking the Plastic Wave Pathways Tool ('Pathways'). Pathways enhances the model behind the BPW research by increasing its flexibility and analytical capabilities, adding for example advanced trade-off analyses and the ability to generate novel scenarios.
Using Pathways
Our goal is for this tool to inform the choices of policymakers and other stakeholders on the impacts of policy scenarios, taking into account potential environmental and economic trade-offs. Pathways can be employed at any scale of assessment in which plastic flows can be identified, from global to city scales, leading to improved evidence-based solutions. Pathways has been piloted twice in collaboration with local partners: once at a city-level in Pune, India, and once on a national level in South Africa. Results from both pilots highlighted the importance of stakeholder involvement and local ownership of the process to build capacity for continued analysis.
Licensing
Pathways is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share-Alike 4.0 International License (CC-BY-NC-SA 4.0). This work can be adapted for research purposes and policy application and must be attributed to Leah Segui, Winnie W.Y. Lau, and
James Palardy, The Pew Charitable Trusts; and Richard Bailey, University of Oxford (2023) [Citation information]. Links to download the application and the installer are given below.
Under the licensing agreement, you are free to Share (copy and redistribute) and Adapt (transform and build upon) Pathways, under the condition you give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made (ensuring this does not suggest the licensor endorses you or your use). You must distribute your contributions under the same license as the original and may not apply legal terms or technological measures that legally restrict others from doing anything the license permits.
You may not use Pathways for commercial purposes.
