Plastic waste articles Jul 2, 2021 · Emissions of plastic are increasing and will continue to do so even in some of the most optimistic future scenarios of plastic waste reduction (). 92% of the total. , 2016). 5 million tons of plastic and other solid waste a day, Not long after reading an article on zero-waste she vowed to take more responsibility for her own footprint. , 2020, Kole et al. , 2017). Apr 21, 2025 · If plastic isn’t being recycled, it must be because consumers aren’t trying hard enough. Yet despite decades of public awareness campaigns promoting recycling, plastic waste continues to rise. Even within the last five years we have identified sources of microplastics (1 µm–5 mm) to the environment that are not novel, but had not previously been considered, for example road paints (Horton et al. Key issues include rapid development and population growth, inadequate technical skills for hazardous waste management, insufficient Apr 25, 2023 · Why is plastic pollution such a problem? Affordable, durable and flexible, plastic pervades modern life, appearing in everything from packaging to clothes to beauty products. 5 billion in creating solutions to improve methods for collecting plastic waste and recycling Jul 2, 2021 · Emissions of plastic are increasing and will continue to do so even in some of the most optimistic future scenarios of plastic waste reduction (). 4, 30 In settings with limited waste management infrastructures, this figure is even Apr 22, 2024 · Most plastic waste goes into landfills or is shipped to places like Indonesia and other Southeast Asian nations, many of which are already drowning in their own plastic pollution. The present world is now facing the challenge of proper management and resource recovery of the enormous amount of plastic waste. Mar 1, 2024 · Urbanization, economic development, and increasing population are the main drivers for the growth of plastic waste (Amasuomo and Baird, 2016). Clearing beaches Nov 27, 2024 · Plastic waste is everywhere and countries must be held accountable for reducing it More than 4,000 plastic chemicals are hazardous, report finds To curb plastic pollution, industry and academia Nov 17, 2017 · The United States generates ∼20% of the global amount of plastic solid waste generated . Currently, just 10–15% of the plastic waste we generate annually is recycled — with the rest incinerated, buried in landfill or dumped as litter 1 Feb 1, 2025 · Regretfully, a large portion of plastic waste has not been effectively managed and has ended up in landfills or intentionally and unintentionally discarded into the oceans (Zheng et al. By Manuela Andreoni Plastic is truly ubiquitous. Producer brand managers and policymakers should prioritize solutions that reduce plastic production. 7 per cent) and energy recovery (22. Surface surveys have accounted for only about 1 percent of the ocean’s estimated plastic. This data comes from the OECD’s Global Plastic Outlook. 38% of global oceanic plastic waste, far more than the second-largest plastic polluter, India, which in the same year accounted for about 12. Fig. , 2015) and terrestrial organisms (Li et al. That’s roughly the weight of 1. Environmental groups blame the oil and gas industry. Predicted growth in plastic waste exceeds efforts to mitigate plastic pollution. Apr 24, 2024 · Mismanaged waste is plastic that isn’t recycled or disposed of in a well-managed landfill or incinerator, but rather ends up loose in the environment or burned in an open pit. Together with feedstock recycling (1. This means about 50kg of plastic per meter of coastline. Estimates of global emissions of plastic waste to rivers, lakes, and the ocean range from 9 to 23 million metric tons per year, with a similar amount emitted into the terrestrial environment, from 13 to 25 million metric tons per year as of 2016 (4, 5). Westend61 via Getty Images Plus March 20, 2025 May 15, 2025 · Plastic pollution has become ubiquitous in natural and built environments, raising concerns about potential harm to humans and nature alike. Aug 1, 2024 · Increasing plastic waste is a critical global challenge to ecological and human health requiring focused solutions to reduce omnipresent plastic pollution in the environment. Nov 14, 2024 · Around 90% of mismanaged plastic waste occurred in Majority World whereas China, North America, and EU 30 each generated only 3 to 4%. Olson, the chief executive, said. Plastic pollution is a global problem. We Are Here to Make a Difference: Our Litigators Abstract Plastics have been instrumental in providing access to clean drinking water, medical applications, and improved hygiene and food safety. The rising concerns regarding the immediate and long-term consequences of plastic matter entrainment into foods and water cannot be overemphasized in light of our pursuit of sustainability (in terms of Mar 6, 2024 · Climate change and plastic pollution are interconnected global challenges. Since the 1950s, humans have created over 7 billion tons of plastic waste. . Even before the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the management of plastic waste was considered a priority environmental issue due to its close link with pollution of the terrestrial and marine environment. The expected Mar 13, 2025 · Articles on Plastic waste. Jan 6, 2023 · It’s warming the planet and driving biodiversity loss. However, in most developing country cities, a large share of the Recycling plastic requires investing in the right people and tools to sort and process the waste. treaty to end plastic pollution Negotiations over a U. In 2003, however, this still amounted to only 14. Waste can be generally declared as useless by-products/unwanted substances that are generated mainly during human activities and cause egregious results for both the environment and humans (Amasuomo and Baird, 2016, Hossain et al. Nov 25, 2024 · Countries are racing to finalize a U. As a result, the volume of plastic waste becomes a nuisance for everyone. Of the 25. Scientists have found the recycling of plastic waste as a compelling path, and different recycling methods have been extensively proposed for such waste by the packaging industry. , styrene or polyvinyl chloride (PVC). Easily recyclable plastics—such as PET in most bottles, or HDPE in pipes and containers—can be washed, ground into a powder, melted, and then extruded into pellets ready for reheati Mar 8, 2021 · Plastic waste is one of the world’s most pressing human health and environmental concerns. 4 billion African elephants or 1,400 Apr 22, 2025 · Borrelle, S. Displaying 1 - 20 of 110 articles. Around 50% of the UK's plastic waste exports are mixed plastics that are difficult to recycle, i. Mismanagement of plastic waste severely threatens marine ecosystems (Jambeck et al. By 2040, it will nearly triple, adding 23-37 million metric tons of waste into the ocean per year. More than 10 million tons of plastic enter the oceans annually. Of all the plastic ever made, half was made in the past 15 years. The country was responsible for 36. , 2017) According to the Ministry of Environment and Forestry, Indonesia May 7, 2021 · With regard to priority-setting and challenges the waste managers must address there are two groups of countries: (A) those with less developed waste collection and disposal systems which need to make sure to reduce leakage of plastic waste to the environment as a top priority (followed by a more recovery oriented plastic waste management approach) and (B) those countries with functioning Plastic pollution is an ever-growing concern in the Philippines, but amidst the crisis, an inspiring initiative is making waves. When people buy drinks in a disposable plastic bottle, they pay a small extra fee and get that back by depositing the used Dec 15, 2024 · Plastic products are indispensable across various applications, yet their disposal poses significant environmental hazards, such as groundwater contamination, soil degradation, and marine ecosystem threats, impacting both human health and ecological balance. A partial list of the good news This article performed a bibliographic analysis of the available literature on plastic waste management using a computational approach. Sep 4, 2024 · The resulting inventory comprises estimates of plastic emissions from around 50,000 municipalities, and from 5 key sources: uncollected waste, littering, waste-collection systems, uncontrolled Proper plastic leakage management is the first step towards control of plastic pollution in water and this requires increased waste recycling and ensuring the availability of suitable waste handling facilities (McKinsey and Company and Ocean Conservancy 2015; Eriksen et al. Not only is plastic waste residing in landfills harmful to the environment, but it also represents missed economic opportunities. The accumulation of plastic garbage is a huge international concern, and typical disposal strategies such as open burning, land-filling and incineration result in both financial loss and The exported plastic waste is turned into a useful product, and the rest is either sent to a landfill or disposed to the ocean. Lack of technical skills for managing hazardous waste, insufficient infrastructure development for recycling and recovery, and above all, lack of awareness of the rules and regulations are the key factors behind this massive pile of plastic waste. Abstract. May 28, 2025 · In Nigeria, informal collectors of plastic bottle waste are central to resolving the clash between its environmental costs and economic benefits. 8 per cent of the waste plastic generated (from all sources). For example, the commodity market value of the total landfilled packaging material waste in the United States has been Jul 3, 2024 · Here’s everything you need to know about the most ubiquitous (and avoidable) kind of plastic waste: the kind made to be tossed in mere minutes. Global annual plastic waste generation is set to grow by 62% to 687 Mt (639 to 734 Mt) by 2050 . Rising temperatures and moisture alter plastic characteristics, contributing to waste, microplastic generation, and Every day, the equivalent of 2,000 garbage trucks full of plastic are dumped into the world's oceans, rivers, and lakes. This week, delegates Feb 18, 2025 · Jambeck, J. May 27, 2025 · Plastic pollution, harmful accumulation of synthetic plastic products in the environment. treaty to cut plastics have been bogged down. Similarly, Malaysia (65,000 t in 2020) returned to the UK, 42 containers of illegally imported plastic waste (www. Science 347, 768–771 (2015). Enter Plastic Flamingo, a social enterprise dedicated to recycling and upcycling plastic waste into valuable resources while transforming lives and promoting sustainability. 2 The model first uses estimates of the influx of plastics into natural environments based on widely-used metrics such as population density, GDP per capita, waste statistics, terrain and distances from rivers and coastlines. Once in the environment, research shows that plastic pollution is persistent and may take between 100 to 1,000 years or more to decompose, depending on environmental conditions. This trend for Jan 10, 2025 · Every year, hundreds of millions of metric tons of plastic waste are manufactured worldwide. With that, will come more pollution. Dec 20, 2018 · Gaining control of plastic waste is now such a large task that it calls for a comprehensive, global approach, Jambeck says, that involves rethinking plastic chemistry, product design, recycling Oct 21, 2021 · Currently, plastic accounts for 85 per cent of all marine litter. Malaysia is tracking global trends in both the overall generation of plastic waste and the consumption of single-use Apr 1, 2023 · A variety of plastic wastes exist; polyethylene and polyethylene terephthalate (PET) is known as the most common ones. Large proportions of plastic waste don’t get recycled. e. , 2005). The Philippines had the largest share of global plastic waste discarded in the ocean in 2019. Marine plastic pollution has documented impacts on marine organisms and ecosystem services. Article CAS Google Scholar Oct 19, 2023 · Public awareness of the likely impacts of plastic waste is growing and policymakers around the world are reacting. Jul 23, 2021 · Plastic pollution is a persistent challenge worldwide with the first reports evidencing its impact on the living and nonliving components of the environment dating back more than half a century. The highly used keywords, most frequently cited papers and authors, actively participating countries, and sources of publications were analyzed during the bibliographic analysis. While recycling has Dec 1, 2021 · The poor disposal and plastic waste mistreatment effects are categorized under three main classes, including the effects of plastic waste on animals, public health, and environmental pollution. Apr 5, 2024 · Meanwhile, they say, plastic waste chokes rivers and streams, piles up in landfills or is exported. It’s in our Nov 3, 2020 · Plastic waste problems and adverse effects are especially serious and omnipresent in renowned countries (Kong et al. Image “We believe in this technology,” Mr. 8 million Apr 3, 2022 · Plastic waste washing up on a beach in Bali, Indonesia. Plastic pollution can alter habitats and natural processes, reducing ecosystems’ ability to adapt to climate change Jun 12, 2023 · Assessing Ocean Plastic Pollution in the Philippines. The severity of Mar 1, 2022 · Vietnam's law on plastic waste imports is to be enforced in 2025. 2018). Nov 1, 2024 · Plastic use for health and medical applications is unpredictable and could increase during medical disasters such as disease outbreaks (Teymourian et al. tbsnews. To reduce the volume of waste, researchers have tried to capitalize on the incineration approach. “Today science tells us that the majority of plastic waste ending up in oceans is coming from land, specifically due to limited or nonexistent waste management,” says Simon. Nov 28, 2022 · Plastic is one of the fastest growing materials and production is on course to double, to more than one billion tonnes a year, by 2050. 1 provides an illustration of the fate of plastic materials with harmful impacts on the ecosystem [35]. , 2022a, Hossain et al Jun 7, 2019 · The best way to reduce plastic pollution, many scientists and conservationists say, is to prevent plastics from entering waterways in the first place via improved waste management systems and The goal of a circular plastic economy will remain elusive unless processes and technologies exist that ensure that the recycling of waste plastic is economically viable; 47 to promote the realization of a circular plastic economy, such technologies and processes must not only be cost-competitive but also enable the production of high-purity What you should know about this data. According to recent projections, global municipal solid waste generation is expected to increase Feb 4, 2025 · The world is miserable at recycling plastics. Plastic constitutes the third highest waste source globally, with the total volume of plastic waste growing in-line with increases in the global population and per capita consumption. , 2017) and tyre wear particles (Knight et al. 5 per cent), this amounted to a total recovery rate of approximately 39 per cent from the 21. However, plastics also cause problems. R. Plastic Jan 20, 2023 · The present world is now facing the challenge of proper management and resource recovery of the enormous amount of plastic waste. This year will be key to negotiating a global treaty to curb its impact. Oct 6, 2020 · The Alliance to End Plastic Waste, founded last year by 50 industry titans, committed to investing $1. et al. But we don’t know what to do with all this plastic once we’re finished with it. The use of chemical additives in plastics also poses a Nov 8, 2018 · However, according to all current expert reports, if the advantages of plastics are to be enjoyed in full, we also need to promote the most sustainable waste management alternatives, encourage recycling, use energy recovery as a complementary option and restrict the dumping in landfills of all recoverable plastic waste. Globally, an estimated one quarter of all plastic waste is incinerated. , 2021). net /). The most heartening thing about the plastic waste problem is the recent explosion of attention to it, and even of serious, if scattered, efforts to address it. In March 2022, the resumed fifth session of the United Nations Environment Jun 9, 2024 · A lot of the plastic waste around the Buffalo River is packaging sold by the food and beverage giant PepsiCo, according to a lawsuit that New York State Attorney General Letitia James filed last Apr 24, 2024 · The strong linear relationship between plastic production and branded plastic pollution, across geographies and widely varying waste management systems, suggests that reduced plastic production is a primary solution to curb plastic pollution . But it is thrown away on a massive scale: every year, more than 280 million tonnes of short-lived plastic products become waste. 1 million tonnes of plastic waste generated in 2003 . May 18, 2018 · The world generates at least 3. As a result, a large amount of plastic waste was exported to other Asian countries such as Indonesia, Vietnam, Malaysia, and the Philippines, and Turkey has also emerged as a new plastic waste recycling market for some European countries [13,14]. Every year 19-23 million tonnes of plastic waste leaks into aquatic ecosystems, polluting lakes, rivers and seas. N. Plastics can be sorted into two broad categories: easily recycled and hard-to-recycle. Plastic waste inputs from land into the ocean. Science 369 , 1515–1518 (2020). Oleksandr Matsibura/Shutterstock December 9, 2024 Plastic waste also leads to indirect health risks; when enough trash accumulates, the most common approach to eliminating it is to burn it onsite at household and community dump sites. Article Google Scholar Jan 15, 2022 · However, despite the existing knowledge on plastics, there is plenty that we do not yet know. Land-filling and energy generation are not preferred over the conversion of garbage into secondary raw materials. Apr 11, 2023 · Two decades ago, Germany set up a simple scheme to reduce plastic waste. B. These findings are broadly consistent with previous studies of mismanaged plastic waste (2, 33–35). Plastics are persistent large-scale pollutants, and plastic debris (such as bottles, straws, containers, and plastic wrap) and particulates have been found in many environmental niches, from Mount Everest to the bottom of the sea.
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