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Influence of Plastic Waste Management on the Environment: A review
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This review examined how different plastic waste management practices influence environmental outcomes, discussing the limitations of landfilling, incineration, and recycling for fossil-based plastics that persist in the environment for hundreds of years. The paper argued that transitioning to a circular economy is essential to reduce the environmental burden of plastic waste.
Plastics have become a modern-day nuisance to the environment and man due to improper management at their end-of-life. The structure and additives in fossil-based plastics make them non-biodegradable and, therefore, can persist in the environment for hundreds of years. Since a small percentage of plastic waste is recycled annually (9%) most of this plastic waste is being managed by open-air incineration or disposal in landfills where these additives can easily contaminate the air, soil, and water apart from the fact that a lot of these plastic waste find their way into our water bodies resulting to a lot of harm to the Eco-system. Recycling of plastic is an effective means of tackling the menace of plastic pollution, with chemical recycling as the most effective recycling process as it completely removes the waste plastic from the environment. Manufacturing and use of bioplastics like Polylactic acid, a good substitute for fossil-based polymer polyethylene terephthalate (PET), is a welcome development with the People’s Republic of China championing in the production. Legislative tools have been enacted in countries across the globe banning the use and manufacturing of single-use plastic bags. The implementation of this legislative move has been effective in some countries like the People’s Republic of China, Morocco, and Rwanda. Nigeria enacted the Plastic prohibition bill banning the manufacturing, use, and importation of all plastic bags in May 2019. This ban does not affect the behavioral and plastic management system in Nigeria as plastic bags are still used in cities across the country, littered in waterways and landfills. Therefore, there is a need to review the bill to include waste generation and management. Emphasis should also be placed on the production, and use of cost-effective bioplastic polymers and products
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This review provides an overview of plastic solid waste management strategies, examining the environmental implications of different disposal pathways — landfill, incineration, recycling, and biological treatment — alongside emerging approaches including chemical recycling and biodegradable substitutes. The authors assess trade-offs between these strategies and identify policy frameworks that could accelerate the transition to more circular plastic management.
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This review paper examines the global problem of plastic waste disposal, covering the types and quantities of plastic waste generated, their environmental persistence, and management strategies including recycling, incineration, and biological degradation methods.
A review of plastic waste management for a sustainable environment: Composition and approaches
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Researchers reviewed global plastic waste management strategies, examining the composition of plastic waste streams and comparing mechanical, chemical, and biological approaches to recycling and disposal, with the goal of identifying pathways toward more sustainable and circular plastic use across packaging, consumer goods, and industrial sectors.
Plastic Pollution & Solution
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This review examines plastic waste management strategies across the plastic lifecycle, noting that landfilling remains the dominant approach despite its environmental and health drawbacks. It concludes that recycling and energy recovery offer better outcomes than landfilling, which is relevant to microplastics because improper disposal accelerates the fragmentation of plastics into smaller particles that enter ecosystems.
Environmental Impact of Plastic Waste: Strategies for Sustainable Management
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This systematic review summarizes the environmental and health impacts of plastic waste and evaluates strategies for sustainable management. It highlights that plastic pollution threatens ecosystems and human health through microplastic contamination, and examines approaches like recycling, biodegradable alternatives, and policy interventions to reduce exposure.
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