Recyclable, but not recycled

an indicator to quantify the environmental impacts of plastic waste disposal

authored by
Venkateshwaran Venkatachalam, Sebastian Spierling, Hans Josef Endres
Abstract

With an exponential increase in the production and consumption of plastic products over the last few years, the predominantly linear (take-make-dispose) economy of the plastic life cycle has captured global attention. Even though plastic products offer versatile benefits with their properties across different sectors, with a global recycling rate of less than 10%, it is challenging to reduce the pollution generated by plastic waste. Also, the loss of resources due to the uncontrolled disposal of plastic waste has been projected to cause long-term negative effects on the environment. To ensure a better circularity of the plastic flows across the world, it is essential to design plastic products that have an adequate infrastructure to recover and recycle the waste no matter where they are used. The polymer manufacturers and the plastics converters must account for the environmental impacts of the resources lost in the environment due to the lack of recycling infrastructure as a part of Extended Producer Responsibility. This study introduces an indicator that accounts for the loss of resources and proposes for a better methodology to quantify the environmental impacts of polymers and plastic products, based on their recyclability and the availability of recycling infrastructure to handle them. By integrating the loss of resources with the environmental impacts of specific polymers used in specific plastic products, the stakeholders across the value chain have the choice to select the polymers and products that are actually recycled, thereby reducing their environmental impacts and increasing the circularity.

Organisation(s)
Institute of Plastics and Circular Economy
Type
Article
Journal
Frontiers in Environmental Science
Volume
12
No. of pages
8
Publication date
23.01.2024
Publication status
Published
Peer reviewed
Yes
ASJC Scopus subject areas
General Environmental Science
Sustainable Development Goals
SDG 8 - Decent Work and Economic Growth, SDG 12 - Responsible Consumption and Production
Electronic version(s)
https://doi.org/10.3389/fenvs.2024.1316530 (Access: Open)