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100 years of plastic -- using the past to guide the future
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Researchers conducted a global material flow analysis of plastic production and waste from 1950 to 2020, finding that plastic waste generation has consistently outpaced waste management capacity and currently produces approximately 60 million tonnes of mismanaged waste annually, with projections suggesting this could double by 2050 without robust policy interventions.
Robust and credible material flow data are required to support the ongoing efforts to reconcile the economic and social benefits of plastics with their human and environmental health impacts. This study presents a global, but regionalized, life cycle material flow analysis (MFA) of all plastic polymers and applications for the period 1950-2020. It also illustrates how this dataset can be used to generate possible scenarios for the next 30 years. The historical account documents how the relentless growth of plastic production and use has consistently outpaced waste management systems worldwide and currently generates on the order of 60 Mt of mismanaged plastic waste annually. The scenarios show that robust interventions are needed to avoid annual plastic waste mismanagement from doubling by 2050.
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When a large batch of papers lands in the Atlas, we read through it and send a short write-up of what stood out.