Papers

61,005 results
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Article Tier 2

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.

2024 Recycling 30 citations
Article Tier 2

Life cycle assessment (LCA) on waste management options for derelict fishing gear

Researchers used life cycle assessment to compare four waste management options for derelict fishing gear retrieved from the ocean, including mechanical recycling, syngas production, energy recovery, and landfill disposal. They found that mechanical recycling and energy recovery had the lowest environmental impacts, while syngas production and landfilling were not competitive due to high energy requirements or insufficient offset credits. The study provides guidance for establishing environmentally sound waste management systems for this growing marine litter waste stream.

2023 The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment 24 citations
Article Tier 2

Circular Material Flows, the Twin Transition of Manufacturing, and the Future of Labour

This review examines the intersection of circular material flows, the twin digital-green transition of manufacturing, and the future of labour, using ocean plastics and the fishing industry as a case study for how circular economy principles can address sustainability challenges in coastal communities.

2025
Review Tier 2

On the Definition, Assessment, and Enhancement of Circular Economy across Various Industrial Sectors: A Literature Review and Recent Findings

This literature review examines how circular economy principles are being defined, measured, and implemented across industries including aerospace, wind energy, transportation, automotive, and sports goods. The study suggests that adopting circular economy strategies can help reduce waste and promote sustainability, though standardized assessment methods are still evolving.

2023 Sustainability 37 citations
Review Tier 2

On the Definition, Assessment and Enhancement of Circular Economy across Various Industrial Sectors: A Literature Review

This review defined and assessed circular economy principles across aerospace, wind energy, transportation, automotive, and sports goods sectors, drawing on literature and the EU-funded RECREATE project to identify sector-specific circularity metrics and improvement strategies.

2023 Preprints.org 18 citations
Article Tier 2

Life cycle inventory of plastics losses from seafood supply chains: Methodology and application to French fish products

Researchers developed a life cycle inventory methodology for quantifying plastic losses from seafood supply chains, applying it to French fish products to identify key stages where plastic enters the environment from fishing through retail.

2021 The Science of The Total Environment 35 citations
Article Tier 2

From Generation to Reuse: A Circular Economy Strategy Applied to Wind Turbine Production

Not relevant to microplastics — this study tests whether waste particles from wind turbine rotor blade manufacturing (glass fibre/epoxy) can be recycled into toe caps for protective footwear, a circular economy materials application with no connection to microplastic pollution.

2024 Designs 2 citations
Article Tier 2

Waste to Value Process Chain for Recycling of Fishing Gear Collected from Coastal Waters

Researchers developed and evaluated a waste-to-value recycling process chain for fishing gear collected from coastal waters, addressing the challenges of heterogeneous and contaminated input materials and demonstrating pathways to convert post-use fishing nets and gear into useful recycled products while supporting coastal economies.

2025 Lecture notes in mechanical engineering
Article Tier 2

Plastic litter in life cycle assessment: Advances of the marine impacts in life cycle assessment international taskforce and application to case studies

Researchers reviewed advances in incorporating marine plastic litter impacts into life cycle assessment, focusing on recently developed indicators for biodiversity and ecosystem quality. The new indicators allow LCA practitioners to account for plastic pollution when comparing product systems and informing design choices.

2024 Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
Article Tier 2

First Steps Toward Sustainable Circular Uses of Chemicals: Advancing the Assessment and Management Paradigm

This article advances a framework for sustainable circular use of chemicals, proposing updated assessment and management approaches to reduce chemical hazards while enabling circularity in industrial and consumer product systems.

2021 ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering 53 citations
Article Tier 2

Strategies for efficient management of microplastics to achieve life cycle assessment and circular economy

This review examines strategies for managing microplastic waste through a circular economy and life cycle assessment (LCA) lens, arguing that current recycling practices and waste disposal methods are inadequate given the sheer volume of plastics entering ecosystems. The authors propose a conceptual framework integrating LCA principles into microplastic management to better quantify ecological risks and guide more sustainable plastic use policies.

2023 Environmental Monitoring and Assessment 9 citations
Article Tier 2

Advancing sustainability of textiles: a life cycle and microfiber emission assessment of locally manufactured circular sportswear

Researchers performed a full life cycle assessment of a circular-economy cycling jersey manufactured locally in Europe, finding that energy use was the dominant environmental impact and that marine microplastic emissions from synthetic fibers were comparable in harm to nutrient pollution. The study found that changes to manufacturing and consumer washing habits could reduce the jersey's environmental footprint by up to 33%.

2025 Environmental Sciences Europe
Article Tier 2

Incorporating Health Impacts into the Circular Economy: A Comprehensive Assessment of Worker and Consumer Safety in the Plastic Production and Recycling Industries

This study assessed the health impacts on workers and consumers across circular economy strategies for plastics, finding that while recycling reduces environmental burden, it also introduces occupational and exposure risks that must be incorporated into circular economy assessments.

2023 3 citations
Article Tier 2

Towards a meaningful assessment of marine ecological impacts in life cycle assessment (LCA)

Researchers reviewed how life cycle assessment (LCA) methods — used to quantify industrial environmental impact — currently lack adequate indicators for marine biodiversity loss, and identified pathways to build quantitative cause-effect models for seven major ocean stressors including plastic debris, ocean acidification, and seabed damage.

2016 Environment International 128 citations
Article Tier 2

Source, fate and management of recreational fishing marine debris

Researchers conducted the first global literature review of recreational fishing marine debris, identifying plastic and metal as dominant materials and nearshore reefs and coastal areas as both sources and sinks, while concluding that the sector's contribution to marine debris is likely underestimated and understudied.

2022 Marine Pollution Bulletin 37 citations
Article Tier 2

Life Cycle Assessment of Selected Single-Use Plastic Products towards Evidence-Based Policy Recommendations in Sri Lanka

Researchers applied life cycle assessment to common single-use plastic products in Sri Lanka, quantifying their environmental impacts across production to disposal and providing evidence-based recommendations to guide national plastic pollution policy.

2022 Sustainability 22 citations
Article Tier 2

Recommendations for life-cycle assessment of recyclable plastics in a circular economy

This paper examines how life-cycle assessments of plastic recycling are often conducted inconsistently, leading to misleading conclusions about the environmental benefits of recycling. The authors recommend measuring impacts based on the amount of useful recycled product rather than waste processed, and expanding analysis beyond greenhouse gases to include plastic waste leaking into the environment. Better assessment methods could lead to more effective policies for reducing the plastic waste that ultimately becomes microplastic pollution.

2024 Chemical Science 42 citations
Article Tier 2

Opportunities for Circular Business Models and Circular Design Related to Fishing Gear

This chapter examines how circular economy principles — designing products to be reused, repaired, or recycled — can be applied to fishing gear, which is a major source of ocean plastic pollution, reviewing relevant EU legislation and proposing new business models and design strategies to keep fishing equipment out of the ocean.

2023 1 citations
Article Tier 2

A critical review on sustainable hazardous waste management strategies: a step towards a circular economy

Researchers review global strategies for managing hazardous industrial and household waste — including chemicals, heavy metals, and electronic waste — with a focus on aligning disposal practices with circular economy principles that minimize environmental and health harm. The review finds that prevention, recycling, and advanced treatment technologies must work together, guided by stronger international policy frameworks.

2023 Environmental Science and Pollution Research 74 citations
Article Tier 2

Marine Plastics: Innovative Solutions to Tackling Waste

This book examines how small and medium enterprises in the fishing gear industry can develop environmentally and economically sustainable circular business models to tackle marine plastic waste.

2023 13 citations
Article Tier 2

Circular Business Models for SMEs in the Fishing Gear Industry

This chapter examines how small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the fishing gear industry can adopt circular business models to recycle fishing nets, ropes, and components rather than discarding them. Lost and discarded fishing gear is a major source of ocean plastic pollution and microplastic generation in marine environments.

2023
Article Tier 2

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.

2020 Sustainable Development 210 citations
Article Tier 2

Using information flow analysis to establish key data gaps in the assessment of marine microplastic pollution

This study applied information flow analysis to identify critical data gaps in marine microplastic risk assessment and life cycle impact assessment, then developed a material flow analysis for Norway demonstrating that rubber-derived particles dominate both estimated emissions (85–96%) and mussel tissue burdens (93%), highlighting source characterization as a priority for closing assessment gaps.

2022 Journal of Industrial Ecology 16 citations
Article Tier 2

Regional management options for floating marine litter in coastal waters from a life cycle assessment perspective

A life cycle assessment evaluated regional management options for floating marine litter in coastal waters, comparing collection, prevention, and disposal strategies to identify the most environmentally favorable approaches for marine litter governance.

2023 The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment 3 citations