Papers

61,005 results
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Article Tier 2

Exploring Plastic-Management Policy in China: Status, Challenges and Policy Insights

Researchers reviewed China's plastic management policies and found that despite being the world's largest plastic producer, existing regulations remain insufficient, recommending strengthened extended producer responsibility and circular economy approaches to control plastic pollution.

2023 Sustainability 59 citations
Article Tier 2

China’s regulatory respond to plastic pollution: Trends and trajectories

Analysis of 231 plastic-related Chinese government policies from 2000 to 2021 revealed increasing regulatory attention to plastic pollution with a shift from general waste management toward specific single-use plastic restrictions after 2020. The findings highlight China moving toward more targeted plastic governance despite its large contribution to global ocean plastic.

2022 Frontiers in Marine Science 44 citations
Article Tier 2

Study on the Spatial Pattern of the Carbon Footprint of China’s E-Commerce Express Packaging Considering Embodied Carbon Transfer

Despite its title referencing e-commerce packaging, this paper studies the carbon footprint of China's express delivery packaging industry — not microplastic pollution. It quantifies CO2 emissions across the packaging lifecycle and traces carbon transfers between provinces, finding that plastic packaging generates roughly twice the upstream emissions of paper packaging. This paper is not relevant to microplastics or human health.

2025 Sustainability 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Plastic Waste and a Circular Economy in China

This review examines China's plastic waste management challenges and the country's progress toward implementing circular economy principles for plastic recovery and recycling. As one of the world's largest plastic producers and consumers, China's plastic waste policies have major global implications for the amount of plastic that ultimately becomes microplastics.

2023 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Looking for a Chinese solution to global problems: The situation and countermeasures of marine plastic waste and microplastics pollution governance system in China

This study analyzed China's marine plastic waste and microplastic pollution governance system, examining policy frameworks across blue economy development, plastics industry reform, and public health awareness, while proposing countermeasures to curb marine pollution intensification.

2021 Chinese Journal of Population Resources and Environment 45 citations
Article Tier 2

The Legal dilemmas and pathways for managing plastic waste pollution in China: An assessment of current regulations and a vision for future governance frameworks

This paper systematically analyses the current state of plastic waste legal regulation in China and proposes a framework for future governance, examining how the rapid growth of the e-commerce, express delivery, and food delivery industries has sharply increased plastic product consumption. The authors assess existing regulatory gaps and outline pathways toward more effective and comprehensive plastic waste management law.

2024 Journal of Infrastructure Policy and Development
Article Tier 2

Research and management of plastic pollution in coastal environments of China

This review summarizes research on plastic pollution in China's coastal environments, noting that as the world's largest producer of plastic waste, China faces significant environmental challenges. Researchers found that microplastics have been detected in surface waters, sediments, and the water column along Chinese coasts from both land-based and sea-based sources. The study highlights that while national-level policies address plastic waste broadly, there is virtually no legislation specifically targeting microplastic pollution.

2019 Environmental Pollution 146 citations
Systematic Review Tier 1

Progressing Towards Environmental Health Targets in China: A Systematic Review of Achievements in Air and Water Pollution under the “Ecological Civilization and the Beautiful China” Dream

This systematic review summarizes China's progress in reducing air and water pollution under its environmental health initiatives. The findings are relevant to microplastic concerns because China is a major producer and consumer of plastics, and the review highlights how industrial pollution, including plastic waste, creates widespread environmental contamination with direct consequences for public health.

2020 Research Square (Research Square)
Article Tier 2

Study on China’s Plastic Consumption Trend and Sustainable Development Countermeasures

Despite its title referencing plastic consumption, this paper focuses on forecasting China's future plastic demand and proposing policy frameworks for the plastics industry — not on microplastic pollution or health effects. It examines production trends, packaging, construction, and automotive sectors, and is a policy and economics paper rather than a microplastics science paper.

2025 Sustainability 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Analysis of plastic waste reduction and recycling in Taiwan

This paper analyzes Taiwan's plastic waste reduction and recycling policies over recent years, finding improvements in recycling rates but ongoing challenges with single-use plastics and microplastic pollution. The Taiwanese experience offers policy lessons relevant to other countries grappling with plastic waste management.

2021 Waste Management & Research The Journal for a Sustainable Circular Economy 21 citations
Article Tier 2

Toward Economically Efficient Carbon Reduction: Contrasting Greening Plastic Supply Chains with Alternative Energy Policy Approaches

This paper is not directly about microplastics; it compares the carbon-reduction potential and cost-effectiveness of recycled plastics, bioplastics, and virgin plastics within supply chains, finding recycled plastics offer the best low-cost carbon reduction despite quality concerns.

2023 Sustainability 6 citations
Article Tier 2

Management strategy of plastic wastes in Taiwan

This review covers Taiwan's plastic waste management strategies including collection systems, recycling infrastructure, regulations, and extended producer responsibility programs, documenting the country's relatively high recycling rates compared to regional peers. The authors identify challenges remaining in addressing microplastic pollution and managing complex multi-layer plastic packaging waste streams.

2022 Sustainable Environment Research 42 citations
Article Tier 2

Research on Ecological Effects of Microplastics and Removal Methods

This Chinese-language review systematically examines how microplastics contaminate water, soil, and air, damage ecosystems by disrupting water cycles and enriching heavy metals in soil, and surveys available removal technologies. It highlights both the breadth of ecological harm microplastics cause and the practical options for removing them from different environmental compartments.

2023 Highlights in Science Engineering and Technology
Article Tier 2

The contamination of microplastics in China's aquatic environment: Occurrence, detection and implications for ecological risk

This review summarized microplastic contamination across marine environments, freshwater systems, and wastewater treatment plants in China, one of the world's top plastic-producing countries. The study highlights that research on how microplastics transfer between connected water environments remains lacking, and the microscale toxicity of microplastics is still poorly understood.

2021 Environmental Pollution 91 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastic Pollution in China, an Invisible Threat Exacerbated by Food Delivery Services

This review examines how the explosive growth of online food delivery services in China is driving a major increase in single-use plastic packaging waste. The resulting plastic pollution contributes to microplastic contamination in urban environments, particularly through packaging that is improperly discarded.

2020 Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology 38 citations
Article Tier 2

A critical review on the sources and instruments of marine microplastics and prospects on the relevant management in China

This critical review examined sources, distribution, and monitoring instruments for marine microplastics in China, identifying key knowledge gaps and proposing management strategies to address the country's significant contribution to global ocean plastic pollution.

2018 Waste Management & Research The Journal for a Sustainable Circular Economy 157 citations
Article Tier 2

Recycling Laws and Their Evaluation in Japan

Japan's suite of recycling laws — covering packaging, appliances, vehicles, construction materials, and food waste — is reviewed alongside the emerging microplastics problem and Japan's policy responses to it. The paper highlights that existing recycling frameworks were not designed with microplastics in mind, creating regulatory gaps that need to be addressed as plastic debris increasingly fragments into microscale particles.

2024 2 citations
Article Tier 2

Mapping Flows, Stocks, Plastic Emissions, and Greenhouse Gas Emissions of Polyurethanes: Decoding Challenges and Pollution Prevention Pathways in China

Researchers mapped material flows, stocks, plastic emissions, and greenhouse gas emissions associated with the polyurethane life cycle, identifying production, use, and end-of-life stages as key hotspots for both microplastic release and carbon emissions.

2025 Environmental Science & Technology 4 citations
Article Tier 2

A critical review of microplastic pollution in urban freshwater environments and legislative progress in China: Recommendations and insights

This critical review examines microplastic pollution across urban freshwater environments in China, synthesizing findings on contamination levels, sources, and ecological effects in a context of rapid urbanization affecting over 800 million urban residents. The authors review legislative progress and provide recommendations for improving monitoring standards, reducing plastic inputs, and aligning Chinese policy with international frameworks.

2020 Critical Reviews in Environmental Science and Technology 75 citations
Article Tier 2

Occurrences and distribution of microplastic pollution and the control measures in China

This review summarizes reported microplastic contamination levels in China's marine, freshwater, and atmospheric environments, finding that concentrations are highest in urbanized freshwater systems and identifying human population density and agricultural plastic use as key drivers.

2020 Marine Pollution Bulletin 71 citations
Article Tier 2

A review of microplastic pollution in seawater, sediments and organisms of the Chinese coastal and marginal seas

This review compiled microplastic abundance and characteristics data from seawater, sediments, and marine organisms across China's coastal and marginal seas, finding widespread contamination linked to China's extensive plastic production and mismanaged waste streams.

2021 Chemosphere 211 citations
Article Tier 2

Environmental processes and ecological effects of microplastics in the ocean

This Chinese review examines the environmental processes and ecological effects of microplastics in ocean environments, covering how plastics degrade, distribute, and interact with marine organisms. It discusses both physical and chemical toxicity mechanisms and the potential for microplastics to transfer up the food chain.

2019 IOP Conference Series Earth and Environmental Science 2 citations
Article Tier 2

[Research Progress on Distribution Characteristics and Formation Mechanisms of Microplastics in the Environment].

This Chinese-language review discusses the distribution characteristics and formation mechanisms of microplastics in environmental compartments, covering how physical wear, UV radiation, and microbial degradation fragment larger plastics under natural conditions. The review highlights the lack of effective recycling systems and the resulting accumulation of microplastics across terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems.

2023 PubMed 3 citations
Article Tier 2

Impact of Microplastics in the Environment on Human Health and Its Policy Analysis: A Case Study on China

Researchers examined the health impacts of microplastics in China from a health economics and public policy perspective, finding that plastic waste is associated with increased demand for respiratory medicines, likely due to airborne MP release. The paper reviews China's microplastic policy landscape and proposes four improvement areas including targeted monitoring and clearer departmental responsibilities.

2025 Interdisciplinary Humanities and Communication Studies