Plastic Waste Generation Research Articles

A study on plastic waste generation in Aizawl city, Mizoram

A study on plastic waste generation in Aizawl city, Mizoram

RECICLADO MECANICO DE RESIDUOS PLASTICOS: LOGROS Y RETOS

Nowadays, the use of plastic materials is being questioned by society due to the impact of their waste on the environment. The accumulated generation of plastic waste in the period 1950-2015 is estimated to be 381 billion tons.

A Collaborative Application for Assisting the Management of Household Plastic Waste through Smart Bins: A Case of Study in the Philippines.

The management and collection of household waste often represents a demanding task for elderly or impaired people. In particular, the increasing generation of plastic waste at home may pose a problem for these groups, as this type of waste accumulates very rapidly and occupies a considerable amount of space. This paper proposes a collaborative infrastructure to monitor household plastic waste. It consists of simple smart bins using a weight scale and a smart application that forecasts the amount of plastic generated for each bin at different time horizons out of the data provided by the smart bins. The application generates optimal routes for the waste-pickers collaborating in the system through a route-planning algorithm. This algorithm takes into account the predicted amount of plastic of each bin and the waste-picker’s location and means of transport. This proposal has been evaluated by means of a simulated scenario in Quezon City, Philippines, where severe problems with plastic waste have been identified. A set of 176 experiments have been performed to collect data that allow representing different user behaviors when generating plastic waste. The results show that our proposal enables waste-pickers to collect more than the 80% of the household plastic-waste bins before they are completely full.

First reduce and reuse, then recycle! Enabling consumers to tackle the plastic crisis – Qualitative expert interviews in Germany

Plastic pollution has become a major global risk. The European Union (EU) obligates all member states to implement measures according to the waste management hierarchy, with the highest priority given to waste prevention and reuse. Currently, several policies tackle the plastic crisis, while effective measures for prevention are hardly introduced. Moreover, approaches are rarely tailored to individual consumers’ needs for reducing plastic waste. This paper is the first to collect and structure stakeholder knowledge on measures that enable consumers to use plastic more sustainably and, in particular, to prevent the generation of new plastic waste. The present study explores perspectives of 28 selected German stakeholders from the political, economic, civil and scientific sector. Written expert interviews with open questions captured stakeholders’ perceptions of the plastic problem and their approaches to enabling consumers to reduce plastic packaging for food and beverages. Results showed that the interviewed stakeholders did not point out consumers as the most important agents for change, but considered all societal agents responsible for implementing a wide range of consumer-enabling measures. The analysis revealed six groups of suggested measures, the most predominant ones being (1) the creation of alternatives for consumers and (2) political measures. Further suggested measures were (3) communication and awareness raising, (4) change in consumer behavior, (5) technical innovation and development, and (6) networking with other stakeholders. Based on our empirical results, we derived nine recommendations for action on three levels of the waste management hierarchy: prevention, recycling and disposal.

Recent Progress in the Chemical Upcycling of Plastic Wastes.

The massive generation of plastic wastes without satisfactory treatment has induced severe environmental problems and gained increasing attentions. In this Minireview, recent progresses in the chemical upcycling of plastic wastes by using various methods (mainly in the past three to five years) is summarized. The chemical upcycling of plastic wastes points out a "plastic-based refinery" concept, which is to use the plastic wastes as platform feedstocks to produce highly valuable monomeric or oligomeric compounds, putting the plastic wastes back into a circular economy. The different chemical methods to upcycle plastic wastes, including hydrogenolysis, photocatalysis, pyrolysis, solvolysis, and others, are introduced in each section to valorize diverse plastic feedstocks into value-added chemicals, materials, or fuels. In addition, other emerging technologies as well as the new generation of plastic thermosets are covered.

Recent advancements of thermochemical conversion of plastic waste to biofuel-A review

Advancement and modernization have brought about a significant rise in all kind of commodities production. Plastics have been labelling as one of the materials due to its wide range of applications, light weight, versatility and low cost. Over the decades, the global plastic production has continuously increased to fulfil the global market. This phenomenon has resulted in the depletion of non-renewable fossil fuel since plastics are the petroleum-based material. Apart from that, the disposal of plastic wastes in landfills are also imposing risk on human and animal’s health as well as causing groundwater contamination. Thus, a sustainable and an effective plastic waste treatment is essential to overcome the related issue. Recycling and energy recovery methods are of the alternatives that have been discussed and practiced in many countries to reduce the plastic waste generation. Although recycling methods are highly effective, the high labor cost for the separation process and the emission of greenhouse gases during the process have reduced the process attractiveness. Due to these drawbacks, researchers have diverted their attention to the energy recovery field specifically on the thermochemical conversion method. Extensive research works have been carried out on the technology development to convert the plastic waste to bio-fuel. Although extensive research works have been carried out on the technology development to convert the plastic waste to bio-fuel, but there is still a lack of comparative discussion between the recent technologies, specifically on the economic feasibility in industrial scale. Thus, this paper aims to provide an overview on the strength and weakness of each thermochemical technologies such as a) Microwave assisted pyrolysis b) Supercritical gasification and C) Plasma gasification.

Mismanagement of Plastic Waste through Open Burning with Emphasis on the Global South: A Systematic Review of Risks to Occupational and Public Health.

Large quantities of mismanaged plastic waste threaten the health and wellbeing of billions worldwide, particularly in low- and middle-income countries where waste management capacity is being outstripped by increasing levels of consumption and plastic waste generation. One of the main self-management strategies adopted by 2 billion people who have no waste collection service, is to burn their discarded plastic in open, uncontrolled fires. While this strategy provides many benefits, including mass and volume reduction, it is a form of plastic pollution that results in the release of chemical substances and particles that may pose serious risks to public health and the environment. We followed adapted PRISMA guidelines to select and review 20 publications that provide evidence on potential harm to human health from open burning plastic waste, arranging evidence into eight groups of substance emissions: brominated flame retardants; phthalates; potentially toxic elements; dioxins and related compounds; bisphenol A; particulate matter; and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. We semiquantitatively assessed 18 hazard-pathway-receptor combination scenarios to provide an indication of the relative harm of these emissions so that they could be ranked, compared and considered in future research agenda. This assessment overwhelmingly indicated a high risk of harm to waste pickers, a large group of 11 million informal entrepreneurs who work closely with waste, delivering a circular economy but often without protective equipment or a structured, safe system of work. Though the risk to human health from open burning emissions is high, this remains a substantially under-researched topic.

Biotransformation of oleochemical industry by‐products to polyhydroxyalkanoate bioplastic using microbial fermentation: A review

AbstractFor many decades, global efforts have been attempted to replace the petrochemical plastics with biodegradable and environment friendly plastics. The petrochemical plastics that require many years to decompose have profound consequences on the environment. A natural, biodegradable, and plastic‐like polymer, polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA), has been extracted from and synthesized by microbes, particularly bacteria. However, the prospective large‐scale production of PHA faced an economic bottleneck for less production costs. Research has thus shifted to one of the most common alternatives, which is the utilization of less costly raw materials or carbon sources that include industrial by‐products and wastes, such as glycerine pitch and glycerol. This review elucidates the discovery, basic mechanisms, and applications of PHA, as well as provides insights regarding the importance of PHA conversion from glycerine pitch and glycerol. This review also summarizes some possible future modifications to improve the efficiency of glycerine pitch and glycerol as carbon sources in PHA production. The conversion endeavors of wastes to a valuable product, PHA, that not only reduces petrochemical plastic pollution, waste generation, and PHA production costs but also supports economic and resource sustainability, which ultimately further progress towards the cradle‐to‐cradle design and circular bioeconomy concept.

A review of plastic waste management in India – challenges and opportunities

ABSTRACT Plastic waste generation in India was around 9.4 million tonnes.year−1 in 2019 as compared to the global generation rate of more than 380 million tonnes.year−1 in 2019. Thus, India’s contribution was around 3.1% of the global plastic waste generation. Globally, 42% of overall plastics produced are consumed by packaging sector and 17% by the construction sector. Whereas in India 35% is consumed by the packaging sector and 23% by construction sector. Bioplastic production is 1% out of 300 million tonnes of conventional plastics produced annually. This review attempts to analyse the plastic waste management rules, legislations, policies and practices in India during the period 1992–2020. The worldwide trend of bioplastic projects is reflected in studies in India, indicating a changed perception of bioplastics as an alternative source to conventional plastics. However, facilitating the implementation of conventional waste plastic processing plant and production of bioplastics in India involves challenges in terms of technology, developing a standardised framework and financial incentives. A legislative framework for the production of bioplastics in India should be developed alongwith an action plan for energy recovery from plastic waste. Markets for conventional plastic waste processing and production of bioplastic projects are not mature in India. This paper addresses the need for developing a roadmap towards efficient planning and sustainable solutions for both conventional plastics and bioplastics.

Study of factors affecting hardness behavior of biopolymers based on potato and plantain peels: a factorial experimental evaluation

The environmental impact caused by generation of plastic wastes at a global level is significant, during the last year, production of plastic increased by 40% due to the Covid-19 pandemic, demanding in an accelerated way the massive use of disposable personal protection elements. This situation has changed drastically the pattern of human behavior, introducing a lifestyle with greater hygiene that makes necessary to use plastic packaging to cover products, utensils, and food, avoiding any risk of transmission. To combat the massive use of plastic it is necessary to activate the transition towards circular economies that make use of environmentally friendly plastics; this is the case of biopolymers, materials that can be synthesized from organic waste rich in starch. Therefore, in this work, the factors that affect the hardness of polymers made from potato and plantain peels are studied through a factorial experimental design. The design establishes the combination of urea, glycerine, acetic acid, and water, to identify the best combination of plasticizer and their effect on the hardness of the material. Using Minitab, the multivariate linear models of hardness behavior were assessed to achieve the highest hardness values.

A Review on Green Composites Based on Natural Fiber-Reinforced Polybutylene Succinate (PBS).

The need for utilization of environmentally friendly materials has emerged due to environmental pollution that is caused by non-biodegradable materials. The usage of non-biodegradable plastics has increased in the past decades in many industries, and, as a result, the generation of non-biodegradable plastic wastes has also increased. To solve the problem of non-biodegradable plastic wastes, there is need for fabrication of bio-based polymers to replace petroleum-based polymers and provide strategic plans to reduce the production cost of bioplastics. One of the emerging bioplastics in the market is poly (butylene succinate) (PBS) and it has been the biopolymer of choice due to its biodegradability and environmental friendliness. However, there are some disadvantages associated with PBS such as high cost, low gas barrier properties, and softness. To lower the cost of PBS and enhance its properties, natural lignocellulosic fibers are incorporated into the PBS matrix, to form environmentally friendly composites. Natural fiber-based biocomposites have emerged as materials of interest in important industries such as packaging, automobile, and construction. The bonding between the PBS and natural fibers is weak, which is a major problem for advanced applications of this system. As a result, this review paper discusses various methods that are employed for surface modification of the Fibers The paper provides an in-depth discussion on the preparation, modification, and morphology of the natural fiber-reinforced polybutylene succinate biocomposites. Furthermore, because the preparation as well as the modification of the fiber-reinforced biocomposites have an influence on the mechanical properties of the biocomposites, mechanical properties of the biocomposites are also discussed. The applications of the natural fiber/PBS biocomposites for different systems are also reported.

Challenges, Strategies, and Recommendations for the Huge Surge in Plastic and Medical Waste during the Global COVID-19 Pandemic with Circular Economy Approach

After December 2019, the globe was affected by a new coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) that causes severe respiratory illnesses, which is responsible for increasing environmental problem consequences related to the extra consumption of medical waste and single-use plastics (such as personal protective equipment (PPE) and packaging plastics). Although the consumption of these plastics protects our life during this crisis, it is pivotal to move toward plastic recycling processes and environmentally friendly and sustainable alternatives, like bio-based degradable plastics with a circular economy perspective. This review article collected scattered information and provided a future perspective on how worldwide COVID-19 disruption can perform as a catalyst to improve plastic and medical waste management. Additionally, this paper illustrates the most effective disinfection technologies for COVID-19 wastes, such as high/low heat technologies and chemical disinfection, and PPE reusing processes, including dry heat, vaporized hydrogen peroxide, ozone, and UV light during the outbreak. In this vein, medical waste treatment facilities must be more automatic, with a minimum of personnel involved. Moreover, some recent valid guidelines from different international organizations and countries, future outlook, and practical recommendations that could be effective during this epidemic or even in the post-pandemic world for plastic and medical waste management were provided. Ultimately, governments should improve their waste management because of the potential of pathogen transmission or increased plastic and medical waste generation and try to enhance the environmental knowledge of society. People also should revise their viewpoints on plastic consumption by elevating sustainable behaviors, abandoning old habits, and adjusting to novel ones.

Assessing threats, regulations, and strategies to abate plastic pollution in LAC beaches during COVID-19 pandemic

Plastic use and production have dramatically increased globally over the past 65 years with the improvement of life quality by the daily use of plastic products. Still, around 50% of the plastic produced is disposable products that generate substantial waste. Several reports pointed out the adverse effects of plastic litter in coastal environments in recent years, emphasizing single-use plastics (SUP). In this manner, Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) coastal environments are highly vulnerable due to wastewater treatment facilities scarcity and poor plastic waste management strategies. Since COVID-19 pandemic, the single-use plastic waste/person rate is expected to rise due to the use of personal protective equipment and SUP as health care measures. Based on literature research and the review of plastic waste regulations, this paper will assess the main COVID-19 plastic pollution threats and LAC beaches' regulations to suggest possible measures to abate this problem. The main findings suggest that unifying the ongoing fragmented and overlapped policies is key to abate plastic pollution, including plastic industry regulations and circular economies. In addition, increasing public risk perception about plastic pollution is critical to reducing plastic waste generation. Research advances in the adverse effects of plastic debris could improve the public's perception of plastic pollution risk, pushing forward global marine plastic governance.

UI Zero Plastic as an action towards sustainable campus

Plastic waste has become a globalized environmental issue. Indonesia became the second-largest producer of plastic waste after China based on a report from the World Economy Forum. Waste management and individual awareness of environmental issues are challenges for Indonesia. The more individuals who move, the more waste generation will result from these activities. University of Indonesia (UI) as an educational institution has more than 50,000 academic people/year and has diverse activities. UI produced 663,984 kg of plastic waste in 2018. UI was responsible for the production of plastic waste generated as a form of effort towards sustainable universities. Efforts to increase awareness of environmental issues by conducting socialization related to the UI Zero Plastic Program in the campus environment to leaders at UI, students, employees, canteen tenants, and during major events at UI such as UI graduation and the beginning of new student activities. Based on the socialization of the UI Zero Plastic Program that has been implemented, there has been a decrease in the generation of plastic waste from 2018 to 2019. UI Rector’s Decree regarding the UI Zero Plastic Program as a reference in the socialization and implementation of the UI Zero Plastic in the campus environment.

Drivers of single-use plastic waste generation: lessons from packaged water consumers in Ghana

Single-use plastic waste have become ubiquitous in the natural environment globally. In Ghana, the drinking water sector has become heavily dependent on packaged water in the form of sachet and bottled water. This has resulted in increased generation of single-use plastic waste littered in the natural environment. Waste sachets, though still major a challenge, have received some attention over the years in terms of identifying solutions for sustainable management. On the other hand, limited studies have focused on waste plastic bottles in terms of their generation, disposal and options for sustainable management. This study sought to explore the socio-demographic and attitudinal drivers of bottled water consumption in Ayawaso West Municipal Area located in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana. The results showed that increasing income levels, perceptions of hygiene and safety as well as convenience were the main factors driving the patronage of bottled water. Bottled water consumption is expected to continue to rise in coming years in response to rising income levels. Residents showed willingness to engage in waste segregation of their plastics however limited waste collection systems are available to support this. It is important to prioritize the waste plastic bottles in the waste management agenda and offer households waste collection options that will make segregation of waste worthwhile and sustainable.

The dynamics of microplastics and associated contaminants: Data-driven Lagrangian and Eulerian modelling approaches in the Mediterranean Sea.

Plastic pollution is widespread in the global oceans, but at the same time several other types of hydrophobic pollutants contaminate the marine environment. As more and more evidence highlights, microplastics and polluting chemicals are intertwined via adsorption/desorption processes. A thorough assessment of their total impact on marine ecosystems thus requires that these two kinds of pollution are not considered separately. Here we compare the outcomes of two complementary, data-driven modelling approaches for microplastic dispersal and for Plastic-Related Organic Pollutants (PROPs) in the marine environment. Focusing on the Mediterranean Sea, we simulate two years of Lagrangian particle tracking to map microplastic dispersion from the most impacting sources of pollution (i.e. coastal areas, the watersheds of major rivers, and fishing activities). Our particle sources are data-informed by national census data, hydrological regimes, and vessel tracking data to account for spatial and temporal variability of mismanaged plastic waste generation. These particle-based simulations are complemented with a simulation of the dynamics of primary pollutants in the sea, obtained via an advection-diffusion Eulerian model. While providing further understanding of the spatiotemporal distribution of microplastics and the dynamics of PROPs at a Mediterranean-wide scale, our results call for the development of novel integrated modelling approaches aimed at coupling the dynamics of microplastics with the chemical exchanges occurring through them, thus promoting a holistic description of marine plastic pollution.

An Overview of Plastic Waste Generation and Management in Food Packaging Industries

Over the years, the world was not paying strict attention to the impact of rapid growth in plastic use. This has led to unprecedented amounts of mixed types of plastic waste entering the environment unmanaged. Packaging plastics account for half of the global total plastic waste. This paper seeks to give an overview of the use, disposal, and regulation of food packaging plastics. Demand for food packaging is on the rise as a result of increasing global demand for food due to population growth. Most of the food packaging are used on-the-go and are single use plastics that are disposed of within a short space of time. The bulk of this plastic waste has found its way into the environment contaminating land, water and the food chain. The food industry is encouraged to reduce, reuse and recycle packaging materials. A wholistic approach to waste management will need to involve all stakeholders working to achieve a circular economy. A robust approach to prevent pollution today rather than handling the waste in the future should be adopted especially in Africa where there is high population growth.

Tendencies towards bottled drinking water consumption: Challenges ahead of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) waste management.

Background: The main objective of this study was to investigate the logics behind tendencies towards bottled drinking water usage in spite of availability of treated tap water. The amount of waste bottle is also estimated in Iran and managing principles for resolving the issue presented. Methods: A questionnaire was used to survey the logics behind tendencies toward bottled drinking water consumption among 120 participants. In order to estimate the quantities of the PET wastes produced in the country, data about bottled water production rate as well as volume of the imported and exported drinking bottled water were collected from 1962 to 2015 and applied in the calculations. Results: Findings suggested that about 0.026 to 3.86 billion liters (about 1.04 billion literson average) of bottled water was consumed annually between 2000 and 2015. Furthermore, bottled water consumption increased from 0.41 to 48.9 L/capita-year within the same time period. In the meantime, the plastic bottle waste generation rate rose from 12.84 to 1519.38 g/capita-year. There is no efficient and suitable system for managing and recycling waste bottles in the country. The perceived unreliability of tap water quality was the main reason of bottled water consumption among 74% of the respondents. Conclusion: To reduce bottled water consumption and the associated harmful environmental and health consequences, measures such as informing people, validating public water supply quality, preventive rules enactment, and establishing extended producer responsibility (EPR) are highly recommended.

Impact of Repetitive Recycling on Optical Properties of Virgin and Recycled Polypropylene Blends Based on Material Value Conservation Paradigm

Implementation of material value conservation (MVC) needs to be proven through research to determine impact upon plastic properties such as optical properties of virgin plastic and recycled plastic blends. Optical properties such as colour, transparency and gloss are important parameters for appropriate quality of plastic packaging. Degradation of optical properties occurs during recycling processes of plastic materials and the declining properties of recycled products could be improved by blending them with virgin materials. This research aims to reveal the impact of repetitive recycling on optical properties of virgin and recycled polypropylene (PP) blends based on MVC paradigm. The first step of this research was to determine composition of virgin PP and recycled PP blends. Proportion of 70% virgin PP and 30% recycled PP was selected as a blend composition. The next step of this research was repetitive recycling of virgin PP and recycled PP blends with implementation of MVC up to the 8th recycling stage. The specimens of plastic blends were made from the 1st, 2nd, 4th and the 8th recycling stage and then their optical properties were tested with the American Society for Testing Materials (ASTM) methods. Generally, degradation level of optical properties will increase during the recycling processes. Testing results show a slightly change of colour properties. Degradation level of gloss properties is gradually increased by a maximum degradation level at the 8th recycling stage as 17.46%. However, transparency had a maximum degradation level at the 4th recycling stage as 20.93%. It means that the plastic blends can be used as viable raw materials based on their optical properties with more attention to the gloss. Furthermore, the implementation of MVC will provide more benefits through extending the life cycle of recycled products, reducing virgin plastic consumption, optimizing the use of plastic waste and reducing plastic waste generation.

Current situation and key challenges on the use of single-use plastic in Hanoi

Marine plastic litter, mostly comprising single-use plastics, has been recognised as one of the world’s most urgent environmental concerns, and Vietnam has been ranked as one of the top five countries polluting the ocean with plastic waste. This paper examines Hanoi as a case study on single-use plastic by households, investigating the daily generation of single-use plastic waste through a survey, assessing existing policy gaps through a policy review, and providing recommendations on improving management along the supply chain in Vietnam. At almost 27 times a week on average, plastic shopping bags were found to be the most prevalent single-use plastic used by households, followed by wrap/film, straws, coffee cups with plastic lids, cutlery, takeout containers, food packaging, party cups, bottles for water and beverages, and other items. Plastic shopping bags and food packaging are used more often in rural areas than in urban areas. These bags also have a high rate (68.65%) of temporary reuse as kitchen bin liners, a habit that may be difficult to change over the short term. Apart from some components of plastic bottles and packaging that are sold for recycling, most single-use plastic waste is disposed in landfills. Policies are in place to address plastic issues, such as a tax on plastic bags and source separation, but implementation is inconsistent. A behaviour-based combination of top-town and bottom-up approaches along the entire supply chain is recommended to improve existing policy gaps in Vietnam.