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Plastic Waste Management: Global Facts, Challenges and Solutions
Summary
This review summarised global statistics and challenges in plastic waste management, noting that most plastic waste ends up in landfill, with recycling remaining the least implemented disposal method. The authors highlighted that plastic degradation in terrestrial and aquatic environments produces microplastics that can enter human bodies through the food chain, skin-contact products, and bottled water, and outlined current and emerging solutions to the global plastic waste crisis.
Plastic waste becomes one of the world's growing concerns due to its increasing production and consumption by human. By 2050, the world might have plastics in the oceans much more than fish. Therefore, it is threatening the world's environment, economy and human health. Based on latest global statistics, most common plastic waste is either landfilled, recycled or incinerated. Recycling is the least implemented method. Degradation of manufactured plastics can take between 100 to 600 years. They get fragmented in the terrestrial and aquatic environments into little particles called "microplastics", which may end in human body through food chain, derma products and drinking bottled water. This research paper highlighted some global facts and challenges of plastic waste management, to end with best proposed solutions to the world's governments. 143 resources have been reviewed, 90 of which, included articles, books, and some international organizations websites were selected to cover the introduction, results and discussion parts. The research found out that plastic waste management is the responsibility of both, global governments, and individuals. Most parts of the world lack laws that address "plastic waste" in particular, not as "all waste". Moreover, laws have to be strictly enforced in countries where they are being violated. Individuals' awareness should be raised through their engagement in new innovative strategies built by their governments. Further information is necessary to be provided by researchers to measure microplastics' negative effects on the environment and public health.
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