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61,005 resultsShowing papers similar to Approaches for a Circular Economy in European Union and Its Effects in Third Countries: Promoting a Values-based Dialogue Between the EU and Latin America?
ClearRethinking plastic recycling: A comparison between North America and Europe
Researchers compared plastic recycling rates and infrastructure between North America and the European Union, arguing that higher EU landfill and incineration costs create economic incentives for recycling that have driven greater industrial innovation and cleaner polymer streams — while both regions continue to rely on opaque offshore export as a de facto disposal method.
Towards a Just Circular Economy Transition: the Case of European Plastic Waste Trade to Vietnam for Recycling
Researchers examined how half of Europe's collected plastic waste is shipped to countries like Vietnam for recycling without adequate oversight, arguing that this practice shifts environmental and health burdens to lower-income nations and calling for a justice-focused global framework to govern plastic waste trade.
Atık ve çevresel adalet : Avrupa Birliği döngüsel ekonomi politikası örneği
This thesis critically analyzes the EU circular economy policy through an environmental justice perspective, examining how power asymmetries between EU member states affect the distribution of waste management burdens. The study finds that EU circular economy solutions focus predominantly on economic outcomes while neglecting justice implications of transboundary waste transfers.
The Circular Economy in EU Policy as a Response to Contemporary Ecological Challenges
This article reviews how EU countries are implementing circular economy policies and progress toward reducing plastic waste, finding large variation across member states. Shifting from linear to circular plastic economies is critical for reducing the production of waste that generates microplastics.
Analyzing Government Plans for the Plastic Value Chain in the Latin American Circular Economy
Despite its title referencing the plastic value chain and circular economy in Latin America, this paper analyzes government policy plans for managing plastics through a circular economy lens across Latin American countries — not microplastic pollution directly. It examines how well national plans address lifecycle phases of plastic and is only tangentially relevant to microplastics through the broader context of reducing plastic waste.
European Circular Economy Policy-Making in Sustainability and Resource Management Development
This study analyzed the development of circular economy policy across EU countries using circularity indicators, finding that high circularity scores do not necessarily correlate with lower environmental impact. The EU as a whole consumes the majority of global materials and generates 43% of emissions, highlighting gaps between circularity metrics and actual sustainability.
Examining Latin America’s Transition to a Circular Economy for Plastics
This policy analysis found that Latin American countries are generating increasing amounts of plastic waste while their waste management and recycling infrastructure remains inadequate, though the region is beginning to adopt circular economy strategies through national roadmaps and legislation. The study is relevant to microplastic pollution because poor waste management is a primary driver of plastic breakdown into microplastics in rivers and coastal waters.
Plastic waste as a challenge for sustainable development and circularity in the European Union
This review examines the plastic waste crisis in the European Union, evaluating gaps between recycling policy ambitions and actual outcomes. It argues that without major improvements in waste management infrastructure and circular economy practices, plastics will continue to fragment into microplastics and contaminate European ecosystems.
Transdisciplinary research in industrial ecology a practice with recycling cooperatives of Belo Horizonte for the development of household solid waste management in Latin America countries
This transdisciplinary study engaged recycling cooperatives in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, to develop better household solid waste management approaches for Latin American cities. It addresses plastic waste as part of broader solid waste management challenges in the Global South.
Transboundary movements of plastic waste from EU countries as a constraint for sustainability
This study examines the volume and destinations of plastic waste exports from EU countries under trade code 3915, finding that large quantities are shipped to less developed nations not subject to European environmental standards. The authors assess this 'waste tourism' against Basel Convention principles and Sustainable Development Goals, identifying transboundary plastic waste movements as a significant constraint on achieving a circular plastics economy.
Global Plastic Pollution and the Transition Towards a Circular Economy: Lessons from the EU’s Legal Framework on Plastics
This paper reviews the EU legal framework on plastics and the transition toward a circular economy, examining how regulatory instruments including the Single-Use Plastics Directive and extended producer responsibility schemes can reduce the billions of tons of plastic waste generated annually.
Toxic growth in the circular economy: is the EU Plastics Strategy a bad policy?
Researchers traced the relational history of the European Commission's Strategy for Plastics in a Circular Economy, examining whether this flagship plastics governance policy effectively addresses the growing global plastics problem. They argued that the strategy's circular economy framing may perpetuate 'toxic growth' by prioritizing recycling and reuse over fundamental production reduction, raising questions about the policy's adequacy as a response to plastic pollution.
From Waste Pickers to Producers: An Inclusive Circular Economy Solution through Development of Cooperatives in Waste Management
This paper presented an inclusive circular economy framework centered on waste picker cooperatives in developing countries, arguing that integrating informal sector workers into formal plastic recycling systems improves both waste management outcomes and social equity, with case studies from Latin America and Africa illustrating successful models.
Sustentabilidade: Materiais Plásticos, O Great Pacific Garbage Patch E Propostas Sustentáveis No Contexto Da Globalização Contemporânea
This Brazilian Portuguese legal and policy review analyzes international and domestic sustainability proposals around plastic pollution, including the Great Pacific Garbage Patch and European single-use plastic regulations. The author argues that no effective global plastic elimination program is possible without coordinated non-state institutional frameworks and enforcement mechanisms.
Public policies to mitigate plastic pollution and adhere to the circular economy: A case study from Ecuador
This study examines Ecuador as a case study in public policy for plastic pollution management, analyzing national legislation including the Single-Use Plastics Rationalization Law and the Inclusive Circular Economy Law, concluding that Ecuador's regulatory framework offers a transferable model for other countries seeking to reduce plastic production and promote circular economy principles.
The rate of use of the Circular Economy in individual sectors
Not relevant to microplastics — this paper reviews the adoption of circular economy principles across industrial sectors within the European Union policy framework, without specific focus on plastic pollution.
A systematic analysis of European markers of balanced environmental management under the conditions of economic circularity
Researchers analyzed European environmental management markers under circular economy conditions, examining environmental pollution indicators including microplastics and proposing an iron oxide-based technological method for treating wastewater contaminated with estrogens, microplastics, and oil.
An Integrated Analysis of Plastic Packaging Value Chain: Identifying Barriers and Enablers for a Circular Economy
Researchers analyzed the full plastic packaging value chain to identify barriers and enablers for transitioning to a circular economy, tracing the evolution of circular economy concepts and quantifying the environmental impacts associated with exponential plastic waste growth. The study provides an integrated framework mapping opportunities for intervention across production, use, collection, and recycling stages.
Removing barriers to plastic waste valorisation in Africa: Towards policies for value creation and capture in business ecosystems
This review examines the barriers preventing plastic waste valorisation in Africa and analyses why policy interventions have not yet led to substantial value creation and capture within low-income country business ecosystems. The authors propose policy frameworks targeted at stimulating circular economy approaches to plastic waste that account for the specific economic and institutional contexts of African markets.
Exploring the EU plastic value chain: A material flow analysis
Researchers conducted a material flow analysis of the EU27 plastic value chain, finding that only 19% of plastics were recycled in 2019, with total losses amounting to 4% of production and significant variation across sectors and polymer types.
Understanding the socioeconomic determinants of marine plastic pollution: Evaluating policy effectiveness and mitigation strategies in the Global South.
Researchers synthesized qualitative and quantitative evidence on marine plastic pollution in the Global South, identifying rapid urbanization, inadequate waste infrastructure, and weak governance as primary drivers, and recommending integrated strategies combining single-use plastic bans, extended producer responsibility, regional cooperation, and circular economy incentives.
Potential Analysis of the Plastics Value Chain for Enhanced Recycling Rates: A Case Study in Iceland
Researchers evaluated Iceland's plastics value chain to identify opportunities for enhanced recycling rates, conducted a feasibility study on expanding the deposit-return system to Skyr cups, and proposed recommendations for improving circular economy performance and meeting EU packaging waste recycling targets.
The road to sustainable use and waste management of plastics in Portugal
Researchers assessed Portugal's plastic production, consumption, waste management, and beach litter levels relative to EU targets, finding that current recycling rates (34%) fall below EU averages (42%) and recommending expanded pyrolysis, gasification, and single-use plastic regulations as near-term complements to improved recycling infrastructure.
Modelo circular para el desarrollo sostenible en PYMES recicladoras de plásticos: una revisión sistemática
This review synthesizes 23 studies on circular economy models for sustainable development in plastic-recycling SMEs, identifying four key categories of challenges, responsibilities, strategies, and innovation opportunities through a systematic PRISMA-guided bibliometric analysis of literature from 2017 to 2024.