Papers

61,005 results
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Review Tier 2

Regenerative Product Design: a Literature Review in an Emerging Field

This literature review examines the emerging field of regenerative product design, exploring how materials and systems can be designed to repair, recreate, or revitalize their own resources at local, regional, and global scales. The authors analyze how regenerative principles differ from sustainability and circular economy frameworks and what they mean for material selection, user behavior, and product interaction.

2024
Article Tier 2

Exploring Operational Procedures to Assess Ecosystem Services on Farm Level, Including the Role of Soil Health

Operational procedures for assessing ecosystem services at the farm level were tested across European living labs, with results demonstrating that participatory approaches involving farmers improved the practical relevance and uptake of soil health and ecosystem service assessments. The study provides a template for integrating farmer knowledge with scientific monitoring in agricultural sustainability evaluations.

2022 Preprints.org 8 citations
Article Tier 2

Exploring Operational Procedures to Assess Ecosystem Services at Farm Level, including the Role of Soil Health

A study developed and tested operational procedures for assessing a broad range of ecosystem services at the farm level, incorporating soil health indicators alongside standard agricultural productivity metrics. The approach was applied in European living labs with farmer participation, demonstrating how ecosystem service assessments can be made practical and meaningful for land users.

2022 Soil Systems 18 citations
Article Tier 2

Regenerative Fashion Systems: Redefining Circularity in the Fashion and Textiles Industry

Researchers reviewed the limitations of circular fashion models and proposed a regenerative fashion systems framework that goes beyond waste reduction to actively restore biodiversity, rebuild soil health, and integrate nature-based solutions across design and supply chains using materials such as mycelium leather and algae-based fibers.

2026 Circular Economy and Sustainability
Article Tier 2

Recycled Nitrogen for Regenerative Agriculture: A Review of Agronomic and Environmental Impacts of Circular Nutrient Sources

This review evaluates recycled nitrogen fertilizers from urine, manure, compost, digestate, and biosolids as circular alternatives to synthetic nitrogen, assessing their agronomic performance, environmental impacts, and role in building regenerative agricultural systems.

2025 Agronomy
Article Tier 2

How to Navigate the Tricky Landscape of Sustainability Claims in the Food Sector

This review analyzes the fragmented EU regulatory landscape for sustainability claims in the food sector, finding that no specific harmonized legislation exists for environmental, social, or economic sustainability claims on food products. The authors map existing EU legislative initiatives that partially apply to food sustainability claims and argue for a clear definitional framework to enable enforceable and meaningful sustainability labeling.

2022 European Journal of Risk Regulation 8 citations
Article Tier 2

Sustainability Through Bio-Agriculture: Carbon Dioxide Reduction (CDR) Plus Biodiversity Recovery

Researchers examined bio-agriculture approaches for simultaneous carbon dioxide reduction and biodiversity recovery, arguing that technological carbon capture strategies often overlook the parallel biodiversity crisis and proposing integrated agricultural solutions.

2025 Preprints.org
Article Tier 2

Sustainable stormwater management described as regenerative design

Researchers investigated how municipalities can implement sustainable and regenerative stormwater management solutions, using semi-structured interviews to identify key organizational and technical factors needed for effective adoption of compact stormwater treatment systems.

2025 KTH Publication Database DiVA (KTH Royal Institute of Technology)
Article Tier 2

Drought resilience and soil degradation in drought-hit Districts of Karnataka: The relevance of regenerative farming

This study investigated drought resilience and soil degradation in drought-affected districts of Karnataka, India, analyzing how repeated drought events have degraded soil quality and what traditional and modern approaches support recovery. The findings inform drought adaptation strategies for smallholder farmers.

2024 International Journal of Research in Agronomy 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Nature-Based Solution and Regenerative Circular System Design towards Agricultural Land Management Bioremediation: A Review

This review examines nature-based solutions and regenerative circular system design as approaches to agricultural land bioremediation in the context of Indonesia's post-pandemic recovery, situating them within a broader framework that also addresses microplastic pollution and other environmental stressors. Researchers found that integrating circular economy principles with ecological restoration strategies offers promise for sustainable agricultural land management.

2022 Penerbit BRIN eBooks
Article Tier 2

Sustainable soil use and management: An interdisciplinary and systematic approach

Researchers reviewed sustainable soil management through an interdisciplinary lens, arguing that achieving the UN's 2030 SDGs requires prioritizing soil health as a multifunctional asset, expanding soil organic carbon sequestration, and leveraging emerging data tools — including machine learning and 5G-enabled monitoring — to close critical knowledge gaps.

2020 The Science of The Total Environment 341 citations
Article Tier 2

Manure management and soil biodiversity: Towards more sustainable food systems in the EU

This review examines how animal manure management practices in the European Union affect soil biodiversity, considering both benefits and risks. The study found that while manure promotes soil organism growth and functional diversity, it can also introduce contaminants like heavy metals, antibiotics, and pathogens, and recommends policy updates to better account for soil biodiversity in manure management.

2021 Agricultural Systems 289 citations
Article Tier 2

Socioeconomic and technical factors in European agricultural sustainable waste management: The case of Spain

This study examined how socioeconomic and technical factors influence sustainable agricultural waste management in Europe, finding that farm size, economic capacity, and regulatory knowledge significantly shaped waste management practices. The study provided policy-relevant insights for improving compliance with EU waste directives.

2024 Equilibrium Quarterly Journal of Economics and Economic Policy 6 citations
Article Tier 2

Impact of the sustainable agricultural practices for governing soil health from the perspective of a rising agri-based circular bioeconomy

This review examines sustainable farming practices for maintaining soil health and supporting a circular bioeconomy, focusing on preserving soil organic matter as the foundation of productive agriculture. Depleted soils are a growing global concern as population expansion demands more food production. While not directly about microplastics, healthy soil management is relevant because degraded soils are more vulnerable to microplastic accumulation and contamination.

2023 Applied Soil Ecology 64 citations
Article Tier 2

Regenerative businesses' role in industrial symbiosis realisation

A four-year longitudinal study of five 'regenerative businesses' found they play a critical enabling role in industrial symbiosis realization by engaging in pre-realisation development, motivating partners, overcoming barriers, mobilizing public support, and scaling circular solutions.

2024 Sustainable Development 4 citations
Article Tier 2

Bio-Based Waste’ Substrates for Degraded Soil Improvement—Advantages and Challenges in European Context

This review examines the use of biodegradable waste substrates -- including composts and biochar -- to restore degraded soils in a European context, identifying advantages in organic matter addition and plant reestablishment while noting challenges in contamination and regulatory acceptance.

2022 Energies 45 citations
Article Tier 2

Science, technology, agri-food systems, health, and wellbeing: logic, dynamics, and relationships

Researchers analyzed how modern science and technology have shaped agri-food systems and their effects on health and wellbeing. They found that current food production models, driven largely by economic interests, often prioritize yield over nutritional quality and environmental sustainability. The study calls for a reorientation of agri-food research toward approaches that better support human health and ecological balance.

2024 Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems 5 citations
Article Tier 2

Integrated Ecological Risk Assessment of the Agricultural Area under a High Anthropopressure Based on Chemical, Ecotoxicological and Ecological Indicators

Researchers conducted an integrated ecological risk assessment of agricultural land using chemical, ecotoxicological, and ecological indicators, finding that while chemical analysis overestimated risk, the combined approach revealed most of the area had acceptable risk levels despite over a century of anthropogenic pressure.

2023 Agriculture 9 citations
Article Tier 2

Maximizing Benefits to Nature and Society in Techno-Ecological Innovation for Water

This review advocates for nature-based solutions in water management, arguing that integrating ecological approaches alongside conventional engineering can maximize benefits for both biodiversity and human water security.

2021 Sustainability 11 citations
Article Tier 2

Environmental Sustainability Assessment of Advanced Agricultural Waste echnologies and Agricultural Territories

This doctoral thesis assessed the environmental sustainability of advanced agricultural waste treatment technologies using life cycle assessment, examining whether biotechnology-based circular economy alternatives are genuinely more sustainable than conventional approaches. It is a broader sustainability research study not focused specifically on microplastics.

2020
Article Tier 2

Agroecological transition: towards a better understanding of the impact of ecology-based farming practices on soil microbial ecotoxicology

This review examined how ecology-based farming practices like organic farming, agroecology, and permaculture affect soil microorganisms compared to conventional agriculture. The study suggests that these alternative approaches generally support healthier soil microbial communities, though more research is needed to fully understand how reduced pesticide and chemical use benefits the complex web of organisms that drive soil fertility.

2024 FEMS Microbiology Ecology 7 citations
Article Tier 2

When agrarian imaginaries touch uncertain grounds: moving beyond paradigms in agroecological farmers’ visions of a desirable future in the Valle Inferior del Río Negro, Argentina

Researchers used participatory research and creative methods to explore how agroecological farmers in Argentina envision their agricultural futures, finding that these farmers hold pragmatic imaginaries that blend conventional and agroecological approaches rather than adhering to a single paradigm.

2026 Agriculture and Human Values
Article Tier 2

Standardization: A Necessary Support for the Utilization of Sludge/Biosolids in Agriculture

Not relevant to microplastics — this paper discusses standardization of characterization procedures for sewage sludge and biosolids used in agricultural applications, covering quality, safety, and European regulatory frameworks.

2023 Standards 13 citations
Article Tier 2

Bioresources in Organic Farming: Implications for Sustainable Agricultural Systems

This review examines how bioresources such as compost, biochar, and organic amendments can support sustainable organic farming practices. Researchers assessed the benefits and limitations of various biological inputs for improving soil health, nutrient cycling, and crop yields without synthetic chemicals. The study highlights the growing need for innovative organic approaches as conventional intensive agriculture continues to degrade soil quality and threaten food safety.

2023 Horticulturae 29 citations