A perspective on a locally managed decentralized circular economy for waste plastic in developing countries

Abstract

Unsound post‐consumer disposal is the primary pathway of plastic into the ecosystem. One way of addressing this problem is through the establishment of a circular economy for plastic. Much of the unsound disposal comes from economically disadvantaged regions where waste disposal and recycling infrastructure is limited. In economically disadvantaged regions however, the establishment of a circular economy for plastic must be locally managed and decentralized, meaning that the disposal, collection, remanufacture, and use must all occur within the same community. We suggest that waste plastic abatement strategies must be targeted to reduce, reuse, and recycle plastic waste onsite at the local level, initiating a circular economy appropriate for infrastructure limited regions. Technologies for recycling plastic must be low cost, economically viable, socially acceptable, and not adversely impact the environment, and also produce a product that has a ready local market. This is critical because unless proposed solutions are also economically viable and socially appropriate, they are unlikely to be successful, especially in underdeveloped regions. Using big data analysis, a metric for identifying countries that will have the most potential to benefit from a locally managed decentralized circular economy for plastic has been developed. The information obtained from this metric will help researchers and policy makers promote a locally managed decentralized circular economy of plastic for managing the accumulation of waste on land and its eventual migration into waterways. Additionally, we present a case study of a proposed locally managed decentralized waste plastic abatement strategy in the municipal solid waste infrastructure limited country of Uganda. © 2018 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Environ Prog, 38: 3–11, 2019

Bibliographic mapping of post-consumer plastic waste based on hierarchical circular principles across the system perspective

“…One was a review of Thailand's national waste management using energy recovery and 3R framework [ 247 ]. The other involved the use of big data analytics to identify countries which could potentially benefit from locally managed decentralized CE such as operated in Uganda [ 108 ]. Two further articles reviewed Austria's waste management assessment in different periods; one relating to plastic packaging in 1994 [ 236 ], the other to material flow analysis (MFA) in 2013 [ 115 ].…”

“… [ 84 ] X Plastic recovery status and existing recycling infrastructure in Qatar. [ 108 ] X X X Big data analytics to identify countries to potentially benefit from locally managed decentralized CE in Uganda. [ 115 ] X Waste management system for plastic packaging in 2013 Austria using material flow analysis.…”

Current Technologies in Depolymerization Process and the Road Ahead

“…Therefore, design for circularity is an emerging field that will require manufacturers to rethink how products are designed. Reusing, recycling, and remanufacturing principles must be applied during the product design phase [ 81 ].…”

The Role of Urban Manufacturing for a Circular Economy in Cities

“…One strategy in circular cities literature is the localization of resource flows to minimize the importation of raw materials and production of waste [4,[36][37][38][39] by employing various circular activities. Strategies for developing circular economy in cities divides into two broad categories:…”