The Plastic Smart Guides were developed for cities as a step-by-step process to achieve their Plastic Smart targets. These guides will continue to be molded from lessons learned and case study examples across the PSC community, as well as best practices that are catalogued on this platform. While the initial guides were developed by WWF colleagues and external experts, moving forward we seek to include guidance and real-world examples from you, our PSC community.

The Plastic Smart Guides are broken down into the 5 core steps outlined below:

1. Declaration of Intent

This declaration outlines a city's plastic pledge as a member of the Plastic Smart Cities community. The declaration must be signed by a city authority (e.g. a Mayor), and in some cases, the city council may need to be officially consulted. See the Declaration of Intent guide to launch your city's Plastic Smart journey.

2. Baseline Assessment

This guidance was developed by the WWF Baseline & Monitoring Working Group in June 2021, to support cities as they proceed with their first actions following the signing of their Declaration of Intent. This guidance is an efficient step-by-step process for developing a city baseline on waste flows, plastics management and plastics leakage into the environment, identifying preferred data collection and analytical tools to ensure consistent monitoring and reporting of outcomes, and to ensure the recommended baselining process is cost effective and replicable across Plastic Smart Cities.

Please see the Baseline Assessment guide for more information.

3. City Action Plan

This guidance outlines a city's approach to developing an action plan, taking into account the findings of the baseline assessment, to identify priority interventions with high impact for reducing plastic pollution. Developing the Action Plan should be an iterative process, involving consultations with key stakeholders, while remaining flexible to adapt as local situations change.

Please see the City Action Plan guide for more information, and download the City Action Plan Template as a reference.

4. Implementation

This guidance outlines the implementation of activities described in the City Action Plan, from policy interventions, to improving waste management capacity (collection, separation and recycling infrastructure), to multi-stakeholder processes and citizen engagement. Implementation toward specific targets, requires careful planning and monitoring and evaluation to assess impact. The implementation phase should also include a pilot project to trial solutions within a designated area, with a goal to reduce plastic pollution by 30% in the pilot area.

Please see the Implementation guide for more information. 

5. Monitoring and Evaluation

This guidance was developed by the WWF Baseline & Monitoring Working Group in June 2021, to support cities as they identify key performance indicators to monitor and assess changes over baseline conditions. The Monitoring and Evaluation plan closely aligns with the Baseline Assessment, and recommends third-party monitoring tools and internationally recognized guidelines.

Please see the Monitoring and Evaluation guide for more information.