Analysis of contemporary solutions for minimizing plastic pollution during2020–2025 and identification of future research directions

Constraints of Conventional Strategies in Managing Plastic Waste and Future Challenges

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Researchers analyzed the shortcomings of conventional plastic waste management strategies — including landfilling, incineration, and mechanical recycling — finding that none adequately address the scale and complexity of global plastic pollution, and called for more innovative and integrated approaches.

Reduction Scenarios of Plastic Waste Emission to Avoid Additional Ocean Plastic Pollution by 2050s

Plastic Pollution and the Need for Responsible Plastic Consumption and Waste Management

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This paper reviewed the global scale of plastic pollution across environmental compartments and assessed current waste management practices — recycling, composting, incineration, and landfill — finding that all existing approaches result in leakage of plastics into natural environments. Closing the gap between plastic production and effective end-of-life management is a prerequisite for halting the continuous input of new microplastic particles into ecosystems and ultimately into human bodies.

Novel trends in plastic waste management

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Researchers reviewed emerging technologies for managing municipal solid waste, highlighting how biological processes like anaerobic digestion and thermochemical methods like pyrolysis can convert plastic waste into energy and valuable chemicals — offering more sustainable alternatives to landfilling that could also reduce plastic pollution at its source.

Innovative Approaches to Plastic Waste Management

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This chapter surveys practical strategies and technological innovations for managing plastic waste, from improved recycling systems to novel material substitutes, addressing the mounting crisis of plastic accumulation in urban and aquatic ecosystems. Effective plastic waste management is a critical upstream intervention for reducing the volume of material that eventually fragments into the microplastics now found everywhere on Earth.