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61,005 resultsShowing papers similar to Addressing the single-use plastic proliferation problem
ClearSingle-use Plastic Ban and its Public Health Impacts: A Narrative Review
This review examines global policies and bans on single-use plastics, finding that they have helped reduce plastic pollution in some regions. However, enforcement and public health impacts vary widely, and more consistent international policy is needed to effectively address plastic waste.
Perspectives on Plastic Waste Management: Challenges and Possible Solutions to Ensure Its Sustainable Use
This review argues that banning all plastics is not realistic and instead calls for better waste management, recycling technology, and circular economy approaches to reduce plastic pollution. The authors outline strategies including biodegradable alternatives, improved recycling infrastructure, and policy changes to minimize plastic entering the environment. Reducing plastic waste at the source is critical for lowering human exposure to microplastics in food, water, and air.
Effects and Solutions of Single use Plastic
This review summarizes the harmful environmental effects of single-use plastics at local and global scales and surveys government and scientific solutions being implemented worldwide, arguing that plastic pollution is a global challenge requiring coordinated international action and new material substitutes.
Reducing plastic waste
This paper examined strategies and policy mechanisms for reducing plastic waste, reviewing effectiveness of bans, extended producer responsibility, and behavior change interventions in different national contexts.
Assessing the impact of banning the single-use plastic carrier bags: a case study for Kenyan marine environment looking at macro, meso, and microplastics
Researchers assessed the impact of Kenya's single-use plastic carrier bag ban on marine plastic pollution along the country's coastline. While the ban appeared to reduce the proportion of carrier bags in beach litter, packaging plastics remained the most common type of debris found. The study suggests that banning one category of plastic products alone is insufficient to address the broader problem of marine plastic pollution without tackling other major sources.
The Role of Legislation, Regulatory Initiatives and Guidelines on the Control of Plastic Pollution
This review examines existing plastic pollution regulations globally, finding that despite many proposals and national bans, the overall effectiveness of legislation is unclear and most measures focus narrowly on marine plastics or single-use items. The authors argue that laws often lag behind science and face practical limitations given how deeply embedded plastics are in daily life.
Management strategies for single-use plastics: lessons to learn from Indian approach of minimizing microplastic waste
A review of India's experience with banning single-use plastics identified key lessons for effective policy design, including enforcement challenges and the importance of viable alternatives. The authors argue that managing single-use plastic waste is essential for reducing downstream microplastic pollution.
A review of the cost and effectiveness of solutions to address plastic pollution
This review evaluates the cost and effectiveness of solutions to plastic pollution, from recycling technologies to policy measures like bans and levies. As of 2017, only 9% of the 9 billion tons of plastic ever produced had been recycled, leaving enormous amounts to break down into microplastics that contaminate the environment. The authors conclude that no single solution is sufficient and that combining multiple approaches is needed to reduce the health and economic impacts of plastic pollution.
Plastic Waste Recycling is Insufficient to Mitigate Plastic Pollution: the Need for a Paradigm Shift
This review argues that plastic waste recycling is fundamentally insufficient to address global plastic pollution and calls for a paradigm shift away from end-of-pipe solutions toward upstream production reduction. The authors examine the structural limitations of current recycling strategies and the economic and policy barriers that prevent meaningful plastic pollution mitigation.
Banning Plastic
This legal article argues that outright bans on single-use plastics are the most effective policy tool for reducing plastic pollution, examining how local, state, and national bans create regulatory tipping points. While not a field study, it is directly relevant to the microplastics problem because fewer plastic products entering the environment means less feedstock for the microplastic particles that contaminate ecosystems and human food chains.
A review of the cost and effectiveness of solutions to address plastic pollution
This review evaluates the cost and effectiveness of technologies and policies designed to reduce plastic and microplastic pollution, from recycling and waste management to in-stream cleanup devices and regulatory measures. The authors find that addressing plastic pollution requires coordinated action across the full lifecycle of plastics.
Environmental Impact of Plastic Waste: Strategies for Sustainable Management
This systematic review summarizes the environmental and health impacts of plastic waste and evaluates strategies for sustainable management. It highlights that plastic pollution threatens ecosystems and human health through microplastic contamination, and examines approaches like recycling, biodegradable alternatives, and policy interventions to reduce exposure.
Impact of Policy Design on Plastic Waste Reduction in Africa
This paper is not about microplastics; it analyzes the design and effectiveness of single-use plastic bag policies across 39 African countries, identifying policy gaps that allow plastic waste to persist despite widespread bans.
Assessing the impact of banning the single use plastic carrier bags: A case study for Kenyan marine environment
This study assessed the impact of Kenya's ban on single-use plastic bags on marine plastic pollution, finding changes in plastic litter composition at eleven coastal sites. Policy interventions like bag bans can measurably reduce certain types of plastic pollution in marine environments.
A systematic literature review of voluntary behaviour change approaches in single use plastic reduction
This systematic review examines efforts to voluntarily reduce single-use plastic consumption through behavior change rather than legislation. The research finds that while government bans on plastics are effective, voluntary approaches that respect individual choice can also make a difference. Understanding what motivates people to reduce plastic use is key to tackling the microplastic pollution problem at its source.
Life Cycle Assessment of Banned Single-Use Plastic Products and Their Alternatives
Researchers conducted a life cycle assessment comparing banned single-use plastic products in Canada with their alternatives, including paper, cotton, and bioplastic options. They found that while banning plastics reduces plastic pollution, some alternatives have higher carbon footprints or water usage. The study suggests that effective policy needs to consider the full environmental impact of replacement materials, not just plastic waste reduction.
Effectiveness of intervention on behaviour change against use of non-biodegradable plastic bags: a systematic review
Researchers systematically reviewed government policies aimed at reducing single-use plastic bag consumption, finding that outright bans and higher consumer taxes are significantly more effective than regulations based only on bag thickness. The results show that well-designed public policy can shift consumer behavior toward more sustainable choices, though the behavioral changes can fade without ongoing reinforcement.
Preventing single-use plastic waste
This policy chapter reviews strategies for preventing single-use plastic waste, covering bans, fees, deposit-return schemes, and extended producer responsibility programs. Single-use plastics account for approximately half of all plastic waste and are a major source of environmental microplastic contamination. The chapter evaluates the effectiveness and design of different policy instruments for reducing single-use plastic consumption.
Plastic Waste and Pollution: An Evidence-Based review to Support WUP Policy Formation
This evidence-based review synthesized global literature on plastic pollution to support policy development at Wesleyan University Philippines, finding that inefficient waste management, single-use plastics, and low public awareness are the main drivers and recommending bans, recycling investment, and education programs.
Overview of Legal and Policy Framework Approaches for Plastic Bag Waste Management in African Countries
This systematic review examines how African countries have used bans and fees to manage plastic bag waste since 2004. It found that poor enforcement, industry resistance, and lack of affordable alternatives have limited the effectiveness of these policies across the continent. Reducing plastic bag use is important because bags break down into microplastics that contaminate soil, water, and food.
Assessing the Effectiveness of the Plastic Ban in the City of Bangalore in Addressing the Market Failure Associated with It
Researchers assessed the effectiveness of the BBMP Solid Waste Management Bye-laws 2019 in Bangalore, India in reducing negative externalities from single-use plastic overconsumption, examining production and consumption data before and after implementation of the plastic ban.
An integrated approach to managing single-use-plastics
This study presents an integrated policy and management approach to reducing single-use plastic consumption, examining how poor regulation and overreliance on single-use plastics have strained landfills, harmed food chains, and impacted tourism. The authors review responses from G7, G20, BRICS, and UN bodies and propose coordinated strategies for transitioning toward more sustainable plastic management.
Is There Hope to Switch Traditional Plastics into Sustainable?
This review paper examines whether traditional petroleum-based plastics can realistically be replaced by more sustainable alternatives, surveying developments in bioplastics, biodegradable polymers, recycling technologies, and regulatory shifts. It concludes that while promising innovations exist — from renewable-source plastics to circular economy strategies — significant technical and economic hurdles remain before sustainable plastics can fully displace conventional ones. The paper is relevant to microplastic pollution as a systemic solution-oriented overview of how to reduce plastic waste at its source.
Microplastic Pollution Prevention: The Need for Robust Policy Interventions to Close the Loopholes in Current Waste Management Practices
This review argues that current waste management policies have significant gaps that allow microplastic pollution to continue growing despite awareness of the problem. While cleanup technology is improving, prevention through better regulation of plastic production, use, and disposal is more practical and cost-effective. The authors call for stronger policy interventions including extended producer responsibility, bans on unnecessary single-use plastics, and standardized microplastic monitoring.