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Plastic Pollution: Challenges and Strategies
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Less than 10% of plastics are recycled annually, with the vast majority entering natural environments where nano- and microplastics accumulate across biogeochemical cycles, posing documented threats to organismal, ecosystem, and human health. The review focuses on agricultural plastics as a critical case study for why efforts to develop truly biodegradable and biobased plastics have largely failed and how they must improve to support a circular economy.
Abstract More sustainable plastics can play a major role in the biocircular economy. Of the trillions of pounds produced each year, less than 10% are recycled. Thus, the vast majority of waste plastic ends up in the natural environment where it participates in all major biogeochemical cycles, often taking centuries to chemically decompose. Importantly, there is a rapidly emerging literature documenting the massive environmental impacts of these plastics, especially in the form of nano- and microplastics, on organismal, ecosystemic, and human health. Here, we focus on one key aspect of this plastic industry: agricultural plastics. We examine efforts to create more biodegradable and biobased plastics, how these efforts have failed, and how they can be improved to better fit the biocircular economy.
More Papers Like This
Addressing the environmental sustainability of plastics used in agriculture: a multi-actor perspective
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Researchers synthesized scientific and policy perspectives on agriplastics — plastics used in farming, forestry, and aquaculture — finding that while these materials boost yields, inadequate end-of-life management creates pervasive soil and water contamination, and that systemic policy interventions are needed to close the sustainability gap.
Plastic Pollution and Its Alternatives
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This presentation reviewed the scale of plastic pollution, focusing on how plastics accumulate in oceans as non-biodegradable microplastics and nanoplastics that contaminate ecosystems and food chains. The authors outlined alternative materials and policy interventions as pathways to reduce plastic's environmental footprint.
Plastic Pollution and Its Alternatives
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This presentation reviewed the scale of plastic pollution, focusing on how plastics accumulate in oceans as non-biodegradable microplastics and nanoplastics that contaminate ecosystems and food chains. The authors outlined alternative materials and policy interventions as pathways to reduce plastic's environmental footprint.
Plastic Waste: Current Environmental Pollution, Health Hazard and Biodegradation Strategies and Its Management
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This review paper surveys the scope of global plastic pollution, covering environmental contamination, health hazards, and biodegradation strategies. The study highlights that with plastic production exceeding 390 million tons by 2021, effective waste management and biodegradation approaches are urgently needed to address microplastic accumulation.
Plastic Waste: Environmental Impact, Innovative Solutions, and Pathways to Sustainable Management
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This review assesses the environmental and health consequences of plastic pollution across terrestrial, aquatic, and aerial ecosystems, analyzing technological solutions including adsorption, photocatalytic degradation, and microbial decomposition. The authors argue for integrating novel technologies with circular economy frameworks to build a sustainable roadmap for plastic waste management.
Research digests by email
When a large batch of papers lands in the Atlas, we read through it and send a short write-up of what stood out.