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61,005 resultsShowing papers similar to The challenge of plastics in a circular perspective
ClearSystem innovation and life cycle thinking in packaging value chain: the circularity of plastics.
This paper examines the role of circular economy principles in reducing plastic packaging waste, noting that despite existing recycling systems, plastics remain pervasive environmental contaminants. The authors argue that redesigning packaging systems for recyclability and reducing over-packaging are essential steps to address microplastic pollution at its source.
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.
Gateway of Landfilled Plastic Waste Towards Circular Economy in Europe
This paper examines the challenges of recovering plastic from landfills in Europe and how it could contribute to a circular economy. Recovering and recycling landfilled plastics could reduce the environmental plastic burden, including microplastic generation from degrading landfill waste.
An Overview of the Current Trends in Marine Plastic Litter Management for a Sustainable Development
This review summarizes current knowledge about marine plastic litter, from its land-based origins to its distribution across ocean environments, and evaluates recovery and recycling strategies. Researchers found that while technologies for collecting and recycling marine plastics are advancing, significant economic and logistical barriers remain. The study emphasizes that a circular economy approach, combining prevention, collection, and material recovery, is essential for addressing ocean plastic pollution.
Influence of Plastic Waste Management on the Environment: A review
This review examined how different plastic waste management practices influence environmental outcomes, discussing the limitations of landfilling, incineration, and recycling for fossil-based plastics that persist in the environment for hundreds of years. The paper argued that transitioning to a circular economy is essential to reduce the environmental burden of plastic waste.
El reciclaje de plásticos, un reto para lograr una economía circular
This Spanish-language review examines plastic recycling as a key component of circular economy, noting that low consumer awareness and infrastructure gaps must be overcome to meaningfully reduce plastic pollution.
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.
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.
An Examination of Microplastics: Environmental Impact, Sustainability, and Recyclability Innovation
This paper examined the environmental impact of microplastics, sustainability implications of current plastic use, and recycling options to address the plastic pollution crisis. It called for a transition toward circular economy approaches that reduce primary plastic production and increase recycled content.
Overview on the Key Figures with Impact on the Circular Economy Through the Life Cycle of Plastics
This review examined key statistics on plastic production, use, and waste across the product lifecycle, finding that while plastics provide critical societal benefits, transitioning to circular economy principles — including design for recyclability and improved waste infrastructure — is essential to reduce mounting plastic pollution.
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.
Plastics in the Circular Economy
This book examines the role of plastics in the circular economy, reviewing how the current linear plastics economy generates environmental problems including microplastic pollution from fossil oil use and unmanaged plastic waste. The authors assess circular economy strategies including recycling, biodegradable alternatives, and design for disassembly as pathways to maintain the benefits of plastics while reducing their environmental footprint.
Strategic pathways for sustainable plastic management through a circular economy approach in India
This paper analyzed strategic pathways for sustainable plastic waste management in India through a circular economy lens, examining the environmental and health risks posed by microplastics from inadequate plastic disposal. The authors identify policy, infrastructure, and behavioral interventions needed to reduce India's microplastic burden.
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.
Current Status of Circular Economy Research in Finland
This review surveys the state of circular economy research in Finland, covering academic, policy, and industry perspectives on transitioning away from the linear 'take-make-dispose' model. Circular economy principles are increasingly relevant to addressing plastic waste and microplastic pollution.
Systemic Change: The Complexity of Business in a Circular Economy
This paper examines the complexity of transitioning businesses to a circular economy model, focusing on the systemic changes needed to replace the linear take-make-dispose approach. Circular business models that keep plastics in use longer and out of the environment are fundamental to reducing microplastic pollution at its source.
Towards a Circular Economy of Plastics: An Evaluation of the Systematic Transition to a New Generation of Bioplastics
This review evaluates the transition from petroleum-based plastics to bioplastics within a circular economy framework, assessing the sustainability, production challenges, and environmental trade-offs of current bioplastic alternatives.
Circular economy measures to keep plastics and their value in the economy, avoid waste and reduce marine litter
This review argues that circular economy measures — including improved collection, reuse, recycling, and design for end-of-life — are necessary to keep plastic value in the economy while reducing the estimated 5-15 million tonnes of plastic entering oceans annually. Researchers present a framework of policy and industry measures to transition away from the current linear 'make-use-dispose' model that drives marine litter accumulation.
Recycling and Management of Microplastic Waste
This review examines recycling and management strategies for plastic waste, describing the technical and economic challenges of reducing plastic pollution and the remediation approaches that have been attempted to address microplastic accumulation in the environment.
The COVID-19 pandemic necessitates a shift to a plastic circular economy
Researchers argue that the COVID-19 pandemic's surge in single-use plastic demand exposes deep flaws in linear plastic waste management, calling for coordinated action by governments, industry, and researchers to shift toward circular economy principles including intelligent design and sustainable upcycling of plastics.
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.
Circular economy and reduction of micro(nano)plastics contamination
This review argues that transitioning to a circular economy — through better design, recycling infrastructure, and reducing single-use plastics — offers one of the most viable systemic pathways to reducing micro- and nanoplastic contamination of the environment.
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.
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.