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61,005 resultsShowing papers similar to Global Plastic Waste Trade: An Analysis of Sources and Trends (1996-2024)
ClearThe Evolutionary Trend and Impact of Global Plastic Waste Trade Network
Analysis of the global plastic waste trade network from 1988 to 2017 found that recent national import bans have reshaped trade flows, with waste being redirected from China to other developing nations rather than reducing overall plastic waste generation.
Circular Economy and the Changing Geography of International Trade in Plastic Waste
This study analyzed over two decades of international trade data in plastic waste, finding increasingly complex transboundary flows as circular economy policies tightened, with China's 2018 import ban dramatically reshaping global plastic waste trade routes and highlighting ongoing challenges in achieving sustainable plastic material cycles.
Mapping the Plastic Waste Research Landscape: A bibliometric analysis of the interdisciplinary nature of plastic waste research
A bibliometric analysis of 2,735 papers on plastic waste published between 2011 and 2022 found that India and China were the most productive countries in this research field. The analysis identifies research networks, trends, and gaps to guide future work and policymakers.
A Comparative Bibliometric Analysis on Plastic Waste Recycling
This bibliometric study maps ten years of global research on plastic waste recycling and circular economy using Scopus and Web of Science, identifying dominant themes, leading countries, and emerging directions. It is primarily a research-landscape analysis with minimal direct content on microplastic formation or health risks, making it only peripheral to microplastic science.
Plastic Waste Management: A Bibliometric Analysis (1992–2022)
This bibliometric study mapped 30 years of scientific publications on plastic waste management (1992–2022), finding rapid growth in research output with China as the dominant contributor. Plastic waste management and microplastics emerged as the most influential research keywords, reflecting growing global concern about plastic pollution and water contamination. While this is a research landscape overview rather than an experimental study, it provides useful context for understanding how the field has evolved and where knowledge gaps remain.
Will you take my (s)crap? Waste havens in the global plastic waste trade
This economic study analyzed global plastic waste trade flows following China's 2018 import ban, finding that plastic waste shifted to new destination countries in Southeast Asia and elsewhere. The global movement of plastic waste affects where it is processed and how much ends up in environments as microplastics.
Plastic and sustainability: a bibliometric analysis using VOSviewer and CiteSpace
Researchers conducted a bibliometric analysis of 1,933 research articles on plastic and sustainability published between 1995 and 2022. The study found that China and the USA lead global research in this field, with circular economy, bioplastics, and sustainable development emerging as highly discussed topics, and COVID-19 becoming a prominent theme in 2021 due to its impact on plastic pollution.
Towards a Just Circular Economy Transition: the Case of European Plastic Waste Trade to Vietnam for Recycling
Researchers examined how half of Europe's collected plastic waste is shipped to countries like Vietnam for recycling without adequate oversight, arguing that this practice shifts environmental and health burdens to lower-income nations and calling for a justice-focused global framework to govern plastic waste trade.
The consequences of trade on global plastic pollution
By combining plastic waste generation data with global trade commodity data, researchers found that plastic waste exported from high-income countries and mismanaged in lower-income nations contributes 1.2 million metric tons of additional plastic to aquatic environments annually, increasing prior estimates of high-income country contributions by 51% for freshwater and 100% for marine environments. The findings reveal that international waste trade is a major underestimated driver of global plastic and microplastic pollution.
Transboundary Trade in Plastic Waste and Environmental Concerns: A Case Study from Thailand
This case study examines how Thailand became a major hub for plastic waste imports following China's 2018 ban on such imports, raising environmental and health concerns. Researchers found that imported plastic waste for recycling has contributed to plastic contamination in seafood, drinking water, rivers, and sediments across the country. The study notes that Thailand's planned 2025 ban on plastic scrap imports may reduce environmental harm but could also disrupt regional recycling industries.
Plastic pollution induced by the COVID-19: Environmental challenges and outlook
Researchers used bibliometric analysis to map research on plastic pollution generated by the COVID-19 pandemic, finding that wealthier nations led early inquiry while developing countries followed, and revealing that pandemic-related plastics — from masks to medical waste — are creating cascading contamination from land to ocean to atmosphere.
How Important is the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) Study of Plastic Waste? Use of Bibliometric Analysis to Reveal Research Positions and Future Directions
This paper is not about microplastics — it presents a bibliometric analysis of life cycle assessment (LCA) research on plastic waste from 2013 to 2022, mapping publication trends, leading countries, and key research themes.
Traded Plastic, Traded Impacts? Designing Counterfactual Scenarios to Assess Environmental Impacts of Global Plastic Waste Trade
This study used life cycle assessment to evaluate the environmental impact of global plastic waste trade in 2022 across 18 countries. The research found that trading plastic waste internationally resulted in lower overall environmental impacts compared to countries processing all their waste domestically, partly because importing countries have higher recycling rates. However, the benefits depend heavily on actual recycling rates, and the trade can shift pollution burdens to lower-income countries.
Recycling of Plastic Waste: A Systematic Review Using Bibliometric Analysis
This systematic review uses bibliometric analysis to map trends in plastic recycling research across over 35,000 studies. Key emerging topics include biodegradable plastics, life cycle assessment, and electronic waste recycling. Better plastic recycling is one of the most important ways to reduce the flow of microplastics into our environment and ultimately our bodies.
Research landscape of a global environmental challenge: Microplastics
This bibliometric analysis mapped global microplastic research output, finding a sharp increase in publications since 2006 and identifying China, the USA, and Germany as the most prolific contributors. The study distinguishes between primary microplastics (industrially produced) and secondary microplastics (formed by fragmentation) and contextualizes their global distribution.
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.
Assessing the Environmental Impact of Plastic Pollution in Tourism: A Bibliometric Analysis
This review used bibliometric analysis to map research trends on the environmental impact of plastic pollution in tourism-dependent regions, identifying leading academic disciplines, influential authors, and key themes in the literature.
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.
Postmaterialism and Environmental Protection Revisited: Domestic Plastic Bag Regulations, 1992–2019
Researchers used a hazard model to analyze plastic bag regulations across 133 countries from 1992 to 2019, finding that Global South countries that imported plastic waste were more likely to adopt domestic plastic bag bans or fees, challenging the postmaterialism hypothesis that wealthy countries lead environmental regulation.
Riverine Plastic Pollution in Asia: Results from a Bibliometric Assessment
A bibliometric analysis of river plastic pollution research in Asia identified China, India, and Indonesia as the most active research nations, with the Yangtze, Mekong, and Ganges rivers receiving the most study. The analysis found growing research attention on microplastics and on river-to-ocean plastic transport pathways.
Scientometric Analysis of Microplastics across the Globe
A scientometric analysis of 8257 microplastics publications from 1980-2021 found that the term microplastics as a pollution descriptor emerged in 2004 and publication rates grew dramatically from 2014 onward, with China, USA, Germany, and the UK as leading research nations.
The impact of China’s import ban: An economic surplus analysis of markets for recyclable plastics
Researchers used economic surplus analysis to quantify the market impact of China's 2017 ban on plastic waste imports, finding that economic surpluses in Japan and China dropped by up to 58 billion yen and 1,304 billion yen respectively, reshaping global recyclable plastics trade.
From nanoplastic to microplastic: A bibliometric analysis on the presence of plastic particles in the environment
Researchers performed a bibliometric analysis of 3,820 publications on nanoplastics and microplastics from Web of Science, finding substantial growth in publications since 2009 with the USA and China as top contributors, while identifying gaps in standardized methodology and definitions that complicate cross-study comparisons.
Challenges and Opportunities in Managing Marine Debris: a Case Study of Pancana Village With a Bibliometric Perspective
Researchers combined bibliometric analysis of 2000-2023 marine debris literature with a field case study in Pancana Village, Indonesia, finding that plastic accounts for 78% of coastal debris and that land-based waste is the primary pollution source. The study identifies community-based waste management and policy interventions as key areas for addressing the marine debris crisis.