Abstract
Governments around the world are introducing single-use plastics bans to alleviate plastic marine pollution. This paper investigates whether banning single-use plastic items is an appropriate strategy to protect the environment. Product life cycle assessment was conducted for single-use plastic and single-use non-plastic alternatives. The life cycle impacts of the two product categories were compared and scaled according to EU consumption of 2016. The results show that a single-use plastics ban would decrease plastic marine pollution in the EU by 5.5% which equates to a 0.06% decrease globally. However, such a ban would increase emissions contributing to marine aquatic toxicity in the EU by 1.4%. This paper concludes that single-use items are harmful to the environment regardless of their material. Therefore, banning or imposing a premium price on single-use items in general and not only single-use plastic items is a more effective method of reducing consumption and thereby pollution. The plastics ban only leads to a small reduction of global plastic marine pollution and thus provides only a partial solution to the problem it intends to solve.
Highlights
It is impossible to imagine today’s world without plastic
The results show that a single-use plastics ban would decrease plastic marine pollution in the EU by 5.5% which equates to a 0.06% decrease globally
The remaining results of the sensitivity analysis and the overall assessment of the single-use plastics ban are presented
Summary
It is impossible to imagine today’s world without plastic. Due to its versatility, affordability and durability, plastic is found in an almost infinite number of applications including clothing, machinery, construction, electronics, transportation, agriculture and packaging, with the last contributing the most to the demand for plastic [1]. 275 million tonnes of global plastic waste were generated in 2010 [2], and this figure has increased since [3]. Plastic in the oceans does cause concerns for the environment and human health [5], but can have negative impacts on local economies [6]. These concerns are shared among supranational organisations, including the UN and the EU, national governments, non-governmental organisations, scientists, and members of the public [7,8], who all identify marine plastic as a global problem
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
