Papers

61,005 results
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Article Tier 2

Perspectives on education for sustainability in chemistry teaching

This review examines perspectives on integrating education for sustainability into chemistry teaching, addressing how unsustainable lifestyles drive climate change, water pollution, and resource depletion. The paper discusses how chemistry educators can align curricula with sustainable development principles to prepare students to meet future societal needs.

2022 Química Nova na Escola 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Chemistry must respond to the crisis of transgression of planetary boundaries

This paper argued that chemistry as a discipline must urgently respond to the transgression of planetary boundaries, including those related to chemical pollution. The study outlined three steps: understanding the threats from a chemistry perspective, developing sustainable solutions through innovation, and transforming chemistry education and industry toward sustainability and circularity.

2022 Chemical Science 44 citations
Article Tier 2

Chemistry and materials science for a sustainable circular polymeric economy

Researchers reflected on the fundamental chemistry challenges limiting a circular plastic economy — including the sheer variety of polymer types, contamination during use, and imperfect recycling — and argued that solving plastic pollution requires both chemical innovation and systemic non-chemical interventions.

2022 Nature Reviews Materials 58 citations
Article Tier 2

Chemicals management approach to sustainable development of materials

This review examines how chemicals management approaches must evolve for sustainable materials development, arguing that planetary boundaries and path-dependent industrial trajectories require rethinking how chemicals including plastics are produced and regulated.

2023 MRS Bulletin 12 citations
Systematic Review Tier 1

Sustainable Development Issues in Chemistry Learning as Educational for Sustainable Development Implementation: A Systematic Literature Review

This systematic literature review synthesized research on integrating sustainable development issues into chemistry education. While not directly about microplastics, it identified microplastic pollution as one of the sustainability topics being incorporated into chemistry curricula to help students understand real-world environmental challenges.

2026 Jurnal Pendidikan Matematika dan Sains
Article Tier 2

Pedagogical Purposes of Scientifical and Technological Literacy within Sustainable and Green Chemistry in the High School

This paper distinguishes between environmental, sustainable, and green chemistry and discusses how these frameworks can be integrated into high school science education. Teaching students about plastic pollution and its chemical impacts is part of developing scientifically literate citizens.

2023 Preprints.org 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Addressing the sustainability challenges for polymers in liquid formulations

This perspectives piece identifies the sustainability challenges facing polymer use in liquid formulations, particularly around persistence and environmental fate, and reviews the role of chemistry in developing more sustainable alternatives. A call to action is made for the field to prioritize solution-oriented research.

2023 Chemical Science 19 citations
Article Tier 2

High School Sustainable and Green Chemistry: Historical–Epistemological and Pedagogical Considerations

Not relevant to microplastics — this is a chemistry education paper discussing how to better integrate sustainable and green chemistry into high school curricula, tracing the history of the Science, Technology, and Society movement and advocating for systems thinking approaches.

2023 Sustainable Chemistry 11 citations
Article Tier 2

Expanding plastics recycling technologies: chemical aspects, technology status and challenges

This review examined the full life cycle of plastics and evaluated options for managing plastic waste, with a focus on chemical recycling technologies. The study suggests that overcoming barriers to industrial chemical recycling could open new opportunities for reducing plastic pollution.

2022 Green Chemistry 511 citations
Review Tier 2

Towards sustainable environmental chemistry: A comprehensive review

This review traces the evolution of environmental chemistry toward sustainability, covering recent advances in green catalysis, waste valorization, AI-assisted environmental monitoring, carbon capture, and bioremediation as tools for reducing chemical pollution including microplastics.

2025 Journal of Research in Chemistry
Article Tier 2

First Steps Toward Sustainable Circular Uses of Chemicals: Advancing the Assessment and Management Paradigm

This article advances a framework for sustainable circular use of chemicals, proposing updated assessment and management approaches to reduce chemical hazards while enabling circularity in industrial and consumer product systems.

2021 ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering 53 citations
Article Tier 2

Chemistry’s Role in Malaysia Sustainable Development Progress

This brief review summarises chemistry's role in Malaysia's progress toward the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, drawing on a special topic article published in Pure and Applied Chemistry. The piece serves as an overview pointing readers to deeper reference material on Malaysian sustainable development contributions across chemistry-related SDG targets.

2025 Chemistry International
Article Tier 2

Advances in green chemistry and engineering

This editorial introduces a collection of research on green chemistry and engineering, fields that aim to make chemical production safer for the environment and human health. While not specifically about microplastics, green chemistry principles are directly relevant to developing less toxic plastics, biodegradable alternatives, and cleaner manufacturing processes. The collection highlights the role of sustainable chemistry in achieving environmental protection goals.

2024 Scientific Reports 11 citations
Article Tier 2

Work-In-Progress: Integrating Sustainability Across the Chemical Engineering Curriculum

This work-in-progress describes efforts to integrate sustainability concepts, including plastic pollution and circular economy principles, across the chemical engineering curriculum, developing case studies and learning objectives for engineering students.

2024
Article Tier 2

A multidisciplinary perspective on the role of plastic pollution in the triple planetary crisis.

This perspective paper argues that plastics are a central driver of all three dimensions of the planetary crisis — pollution, climate change, and biodiversity loss — and must be addressed with the same urgency as carbon emissions. The authors call for a multidisciplinary approach that recognizes plastics as a systemic environmental threat rather than a siloed waste management issue.

2024 Environment international
Article Tier 2

Perspectives on sustainable plastic treatment: A shift from linear to circular economy

This review examines emerging technologies for converting plastic waste into useful chemicals and fuels, including methods like pyrolysis, photocatalysis, and electrocatalysis. Researchers highlight how these approaches could shift plastic management from a throw-away model to a circular economy where waste becomes a resource. The study identifies remaining knowledge gaps and proposes future research directions for sustainable plastic treatment.

2024 TrAC Trends in Analytical Chemistry 32 citations
Article Tier 2

Sustainable Development Goals and Analytical Chemistry

This review examines the role analytical chemistry plays in advancing the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, highlighting how chemical measurement and monitoring underpin progress in water quality, food safety, environmental protection, and health. The authors argue for greater integration of analytical science into SDG frameworks and policy.

2023 Brazilian Journal of Analytical Chemistry
Article Tier 2

Addressing chemical pollution in biodiversity research

This paper argues that chemical pollution, including microplastics, deserves far more attention in biodiversity research alongside climate change and habitat loss. Evidence shows that anthropogenic chemicals are a growing threat to ecosystems worldwide, yet pollution is often left out of biodiversity studies. The authors call for interdisciplinary collaboration between ecologists and environmental chemists to better understand and combat pollution-driven biodiversity decline.

2023 Global Change Biology 176 citations
Article Tier 2

A critical review on sustainable hazardous waste management strategies: a step towards a circular economy

Researchers review global strategies for managing hazardous industrial and household waste — including chemicals, heavy metals, and electronic waste — with a focus on aligning disposal practices with circular economy principles that minimize environmental and health harm. The review finds that prevention, recycling, and advanced treatment technologies must work together, guided by stronger international policy frameworks.

2023 Environmental Science and Pollution Research 74 citations
Article Tier 2

The Frontier of Plastics Recycling: Rethinking Waste as a Resource for High‐Value Applications

This review examines the current state and future prospects of plastics recycling within a circular economy framework, arguing that mechanical recycling alone is insufficient and that chemical recycling, design-for-recyclability, and extended producer responsibility must all be scaled simultaneously. The authors identify high-value applications for recycled plastics as essential incentives for building economically sustainable recycling systems.

2022 Macromolecular Chemistry and Physics 60 citations
Review Tier 2

A Review of Green Chemistry Applications in the Mitigation of Prevalences of Nanoplastic Pollution

This review examines how green chemistry principles — including biosourced materials, biodegradable polymers, and environmentally benign synthesis routes — can be applied to develop more sustainable approaches to detecting, removing, and mitigating nanoplastic pollution.

2025 Journal of Environmental Studies/Journal of Environmental Studies
Article Tier 2

Innovations for sustainable chemical manufacturing and waste minimization through green production practices

This review examined green production practices and technologies for sustainable chemical manufacturing, covering recyclable materials, waste minimization, and energy reduction strategies. The paper addressed growing plastic and electronic waste challenges and evaluated industrial approaches to minimizing environmental impact through greener production processes.

2024 High Temperature Materials and Processes
Article Tier 2

Shaping a federal strategy for chemical recycling: Moving toward sensible applications of emerging technologies in US plastic waste management

This policy analysis examined how chemical recycling technologies fit within US federal plastic waste management frameworks alongside mechanical recycling and other strategies. The paper identified key policy questions about how emerging chemical recycling processes should be regulated to meet national and international goals for reducing plastic pollution.

2024 Environmental Progress & Sustainable Energy 6 citations
Article Tier 2

A physical chemistry lens on environmental nanoplastics analysis challenges. Part II: detection techniques – principles, limitations and future directions

A physical chemistry perspective examined the analytical challenges of measuring environmental nanoplastics, arguing that standard methods often miss or mischaracterize the smallest particles. The paper calls for improved analytical frameworks to better understand nanoplastic behavior and biological risks.

2025 Environmental Science Nano 1 citations