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61,005 resultsShowing papers similar to Concretising the role of extended producer responsibility in European Union waste law and policy through the lens of the circular economy
ClearGlobal 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.
The global governance of marine plastic pollution: rethinking the extended producer responsibility system
This paper analyzes the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) system as a governance tool for tackling marine plastic pollution, comparing its implementation across the EU, US, and China. EPR requires plastic producers to take responsibility for the full lifecycle of their products, including waste management. The study identifies challenges in applying EPR internationally but argues it is essential for reducing the plastic waste that breaks down into the microplastics contaminating oceans and seafood.
New Aspects of EPR: Extending producer responsibility to additional product groups and challenges throughout the product lifecycle
This paper examines the expansion of Extended Producer Responsibility policies beyond traditional product categories like electronics and packaging to include textiles, construction materials, and plastic products. Researchers evaluate early adopter case studies and assess successes and challenges in applying these policies to new environmental impacts throughout product lifecycles. The study suggests that while EPR shows promise for reducing plastic waste and pollution, careful design is needed when extending it to additional product groups.
Extended producer’s responsibility of companies using plastics for packaging commodities in India
This study examines extended producer responsibility (EPR) frameworks applicable to companies using plastic packaging in India, analyzing how EPR policies can close the gap between current plastic waste management capabilities and environmental targets. The authors discuss regulatory trajectories and the obligation for producers to take accountability for the end-of-life impacts of their plastic packaging.
https://rsisinternational.org/journals/ijriss/article.php?id=4400
This review examines how circularity in plastics is being advanced through product redesign, advanced recycling technologies, and policy instruments like Extended Producer Responsibility. Researchers found that the transition to a circular plastic economy is constrained by infrastructure deficits, uneven public awareness, and fragmented regional strategies. The study argues that effective circularity requires not only technical innovation but also attention to the social and economic dimensions of plastic waste management.
System 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.
Enhanced plastic economy: a perspective and a call for international action
This perspective argues that the current plastic circular economy is too narrowly focused on recycling, reuse, and energy recovery, and calls for an enhanced framework that prioritizes innovation and coordinated international action to reduce plastic pollution. A broader approach targeting all lifecycle stages is proposed.
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.
The rate of use of the Circular Economy in individual sectors
Not relevant to microplastics — this paper reviews the adoption of circular economy principles across industrial sectors within the European Union policy framework, without specific focus on plastic pollution.
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.
A policy portfolio approach to plastics throughout their life cycle: Supranational and national regulation in the European Union
This study systematically analyzed plastic regulations across the European Union, Denmark, Germany, and Poland over the past twenty years. The researchers found that while the number of plastic policies has grown dramatically, most rules focus on end-of-life waste management rather than reducing plastic production at the source. The study suggests that current regulatory approaches may not be enough to address the full lifecycle of plastic pollution, including the microplastics that result from plastic breakdown.
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.
Company reflexivity for plastics circularity : The transformative potential of reflexive environmental legislation in the EU
This study examines EU reflexive environmental legislation — including the Single-Use Plastics Directive and proposed packaging regulations — analyzing how legal frameworks can drive company-level behavioral change toward plastics circularity and upstream pollution reduction.
European environment policy for the circular economy: Implications for business and industry stakeholders
This review evaluates recent European Union circular economy policies and their implications for businesses seeking to reduce environmental impact through sustainable production and supply chain practices. It identifies both opportunities and challenges for companies attempting to implement circular economy principles in compliance with new EU environmental directives.
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.
What Shall We Do With a Sea of Plastics? A Systematic Literature Review on How to Pave the Road Toward a Global Comprehensive Plastic Governance Agreement
A systematic literature review of 64 peer-reviewed articles analyzed what a successful global plastic governance agreement would require, identifying key elements including binding reduction targets, extended producer responsibility, and a lifecycle approach that addresses plastic from production through disposal.
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.
Towards Plastic Circularity: Current Practices in Plastic Waste Management in Japan and Sri Lanka
A comparison of plastic waste management in Japan and Sri Lanka found that Japan practices the full plastic value chain while Sri Lanka relies heavily on an informal recycling sector, and recommends Japan's Extended Producer Responsibility approach as a model for Sri Lanka to improve plastic circularity.
Circular economy measures to keep plastics and their value in the economy, avoid waste and reduce marine litter
This policy-oriented paper examines how circular economy measures — including improved collection, reuse, and recycling of plastics — can reduce marine litter and keep plastic materials and their economic value in the economy rather than allowing them to leak into marine environments.
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.
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.
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.
The challenge of plastics in a circular perspective
This review examines the challenge of transitioning plastics into a circular economy, analyzing Italy as a case study and discussing recycling rates, waste management strategies, and the systemic changes needed to reduce plastic pollution while maintaining plastic's economic utility.
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.