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Papers
61,005 resultsShowing papers similar to Plastic habits – an overview for the collection ‘Plastics and Sustainable Earth’
ClearRole of Plastics in Modern Life: Benefits, Risks and Environmental Consequences
This review examines the dual role of plastics in modern society — their economic benefits alongside environmental and public health risks — and surveys strategies for more sustainable plastic production and disposal.
The Journey of Plastics: Historical Development, Environmental Challenges, and the Emergence of Bioplastics for Single-Use Products
This review traces the history of plastic from its invention to its current environmental crisis, including the rise of microplastic pollution in ecosystems worldwide. It examines bioplastics as a potential sustainable alternative, covering their types, applications, and the challenges of scaling production. The shift to biodegradable alternatives is presented as essential for reducing the growing tide of microplastic contamination that threatens both environmental and human health.
Plastic Pollution and its Impact on Environment
This overview of plastic pollution from 1950 to 2021 estimates that approximately 6.3 billion tons of plastics have been produced globally, with only 9% recycled, while continued population growth and consumption drive mounting environmental accumulation. The study links plastic pollution trajectories to public health, ecosystem, and regulatory challenges.
Plastic waste: impact on the planet’s ecosystem
This review covers the trajectory of global plastic production from 1.5 million tonnes in 1950 to over 335 million tonnes in 2016 and examines the ecological consequences of plastic waste entering the environment. The paper highlights microplastics as an escalating threat to marine and terrestrial ecosystems, with toxicological effects documented across species.
Our life with plastic, a review of plastic product abuse in the age of consumerism
This review examines the psychology, sociology, and culture of plastic consumerism alongside the scientific evidence for microplastic health harms, arguing that social sciences should complement natural science research by promoting rational product choices and awareness.
Global Plastic Production, Environmental Impacts, and Sustainable Remediation Strategies: A Comprehensive Review
This comprehensive review traces global plastic production from 1950 to 2025, documenting the exponential growth in output and associated waste, and evaluating remediation strategies including mechanical recycling, chemical recycling, biodegradation, and emerging alternatives.
Role of Plastics in Modern Life: Benefits, Risks and Environmental Consequences
This review examines the dual role of plastics in modern society — their economic and practical benefits alongside growing environmental and health concerns — calling for a balanced approach to plastic use and waste management.
Why is there plastic packaging in the natural environment? Understanding the roots of our individual plastic waste management behaviours
This review explores why individuals mismanage plastic packaging waste, finding that the disconnect between discarding behavior and its visible consequences is a key factor, as is the deep historical rootedness of waste disposal habits in different cultures. The authors argue that policies to reduce plastic littering face fundamental behavioral constraints that require approaches beyond simple regulation.
How plastic is our plastic culture? Reducing our consumption of single-use plastics
This paper examines the cultural and economic forces that have made single-use plastics so embedded in modern life, making them difficult to reduce despite known environmental harms. Understanding the social dimensions of plastic consumption — not just technical solutions — is essential for effectively reducing the microplastic pollution they ultimately generate.
Plastic Pollution and Potential Solutions
This review provides a broad overview of plastic pollution, covering the full lifecycle from manufacturing through disposal and environmental degradation. Researchers note that of the 8.3 billion tonnes of plastic ever produced, roughly 79% has ended up in landfills or the natural environment, where it breaks down into micro- and nanoplastics that persist for centuries. The study discusses potential solutions including improved recycling, biodegradable alternatives, and policy interventions to reduce plastic waste.
Plastics
This book provides a comprehensive introduction to the plastic life cycle, covering the origins, ubiquity, and impacts of plastics on human health and ecosystems, and discussing actions individuals and societies can take to reduce plastic pollution.
A Study On Creating Awareness Of Plastic Usage To Promote Sustainable Practices For A Greener Future
This study examines educational interventions and awareness campaigns aimed at reducing plastic consumption and promoting sustainable practices, evaluating their effectiveness in shifting public attitudes and behaviors toward a lower-plastic future.
Attitudes towards Plastic Pollution: A Review and Mitigations beyond Circular Economy
This review examined attitudes of consumers, industries, and governments toward plastic pollution, identifying behavioral barriers and synthesizing mitigation strategies that go beyond circular economy frameworks to address systemic plastic over-consumption.
A Critical Analysis of the Rising Global Demand of Plastics and its Adverse Impact on Environmental Sustainability
This critical review examined global trends in plastic demand and mismanaged plastic waste, identifying the top contributing countries and evaluating plastic replacement alternatives, arguing that reducing consumption and improving waste management infrastructure are more impactful than material substitution alone.
Living in the Plastic Age
This interdisciplinary work examines plastic pollution from societal and environmental perspectives, arguing that ubiquitous plastic waste and its conversion to microplastics has become so pervasive in shaping human-nature relationships that it defines a distinct 'Plastic Age,' and exploring implications for human health and pathways toward systemic change.
Evaluating the Environmental and Health Impacts of Disposable Plastics: Toward Sustainable Material Alternatives
This review synthesized evidence on the environmental and health impacts of disposable plastics, drawing on environmental science, health studies, and sustainability literature. The paper examined how plastic waste drives ocean pollution and wildlife harm while exploring sustainable alternative materials and policies.
Waste Journeys
This multidisciplinary study examined plastic waste as a material of the Anthropocene by tracing the journeys of plastic objects across cultural, natural, marine, and terrestrial landscapes, exploring how plastic's resilience makes it a defining and problematic artifact of modern civilization.
Emergence of Plastic as a Pollutant
This chapter examines the history, production statistics, and environmental trajectory of plastic pollution, tracing growth from 2 million metric tons in the 1950s to a projected 450 million metric tons by 2030, with approximately 6,300 million metric tons of plastic waste accumulated over 65 years and each human exposed to roughly 2.93 x 10^10 microplastic particles per year.
Plastic Footprint
This review discussed the global scale of plastic pollution—approximately 400 million tons of waste generated annually—and examined how plastics degrade into micro- and nanoplastics that accumulate in the food chain, climate system, and human body.
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.
A Systematic Review on Knowledge, Attitude and Practices towards Single-Use Plastic
This systematic review examines what people know and think about single-use plastics and whether that knowledge changes their behavior. Understanding public attitudes toward disposable plastic is important because single-use items are a primary source of the plastic waste that breaks down into the microplastics now found in human blood, organs, and food.
Bakelite to microplastics contamination: A comprehensive review on microplastics sources, distribution and their characteristic existence in environment
This comprehensive review traced the history of plastic pollution from Bakelite in the early 20th century to today's microplastic contamination crisis, examining how plastic production growth has driven accumulation across global environments. It synthesized evidence on sources, transport pathways, and ecological impacts.
Microplastics Pollution
This review addresses the exponential surge in global plastic production since the 1950s and the resulting widespread environmental contamination, projecting that annual production will reach record levels by 2050 without intervention. The authors assess the threats to ecosystems, wildlife, and human health and evaluate the urgency of transitioning away from current plastic production and waste management systems.
État des lieux du plastique
This French-language overview traces humanity's rapid adoption of plastics over the past 150 years, arguing that current plastic waste management capacity is insufficient, ecosystem risks are escalating, and society must reassess plastic consumption to build a sustainable future.