MASON, OH – January 7th, 2026
Trayak announced the availability of Mismanaged Waste Index (MWI) plastic calculations within its EcoImpact Sustainability Platform. This capability enables companies to estimate the risk of plastic leakage and incorporate plastic pollution impacts into life cycle assessments (LCAs), supporting more informed decision making, sales conversations, and reporting.
Plastic pollution remains a growing global challenge with millions of tonnes of plastic leaking into aquatic ecosystems every year. Until recently, LCAs lacked standardized methods to quantify the environmental impacts of this leakage, limiting the ability to evaluate plastic-related risks alongside other environmental indicators.
Trayak’s new Mismanaged Waste Index (MWI) capability builds on recent methodological advances. The MWI estimates the probability that plastic waste will be inadequately managed through being uncollected, littered, or improperly disposed based on country-specific waste management practices.
By combining packaging data with the Plastic Footprint Network (PFN) framework, mismanaged plastic waste can be further translated into potential leakage to marine, freshwater, and terrestrial environments. These estimates link packaging design decisions with regional waste systems and environmental outcomes.
To translate plastic leakage into measurable environmental impacts, Trayak supports alignment with MarILCA characterization factors, which quantify the potential impacts on biota across multiple polymers, microplastic shapes, and particle sizes. This allows plastic pollution considerations to be integrated into LCA models alongside traditional impact categories, closing a long-standing gap in environmental impact assessments.
Together, these frameworks allow organizations to move beyond traditional waste metrics and begin evaluating both the likelihood and impacts of plastic leakage across geographies and material types.
Plastic leakage metrics are increasingly referenced in policy and reporting contexts. For example, Oregon’s Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) eco-modulation requirements reference the consideration of MWI methodologies alongside LCA calculations.
Learn More
For more information about MWI plastic calculations in EcoImpact-COMPASS, or to learn how Trayak’s EcoImpact Sustainability Platform can support your sustainability goals, contact your Trayak representative or visit trayak.com.
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