Global producer responsibility for plastic pollution

Cowger, Win; Willis, Kathryn A.; Bullock, Sybil; Conlon, Katie; Emmanuel, Jorge; Erdle, Lisa M.; Eriksen, Marcus; Farrelly, Trisia A.; Hardesty, Britta Denise; Kerge, Kristiina; Li, Natalie; Li, Yedan; Liebman, Adam; Tangri, Neil; Thiel, Martin; Villarrubia-Gómez, Patricia; Walker, Tony R.; Wang, Mengjiao

doi:10.1126/sciadv.adj8275

Cited by 23 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 46 publications

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“…1289/2017) that addresses EPR and has shown positive results in waste reduction. However, the polluter pays principle could be much broader and acceptable in the plastics context, especially as just 56 companies are responsible for more than 50% of global branded plastic pollution found in the environment (Cowger et al, 2024) places the financial burden for recycling plastics on the producers even if they are not directly polluting the environment Walker, 2020, 2022;Diggle et al, 2023). Additionally, lack of adequate technology could be a major challenge for successful implementation of this approach.…”

Section: Extended Producer Responsibility (Epr)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Defining an effective “plastics treaty” through national perspectives and visions during early negotiations

Arora,

March,

Nieminen

et al. 2024

Camb. prisms Plast.

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With increased international concern over the pervasive plastic pollution problem, early negotiations to develop a legally binding instrument to end plastic pollution ("the Plastics Treaty") was supported by 175 member countries towards a sustainable plastics future. Defining features of the plastics treaty by UNEP member countries began in Punta del Este, Uruguay in November 2022 during the first session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC-1). However, INC-1 ended with many unanswered questions regarding the structure, scope, and targets of the treaty. Sixty-seven member countries, including members of the High Coalition Ambition (HAC), submitted their objectives, guiding principles, and expectations for the treaty before the INC-2 negotiations while also suggesting measures for its effective implementation. This paper compiles submissions of the 67 member countries and evidence-based policymaking approaches which have been described in peer-reviewed and grey literature following INC-1, but prior to the INC-2 negotiations in Paris, France in June 2023. Recommendations for developing an effective plastics treaty by most member countries include incorporating the complete life cycle of plastics, promotion of transparency in global trade through uniform labelling measures, capping virgin plastic production, incorporating extended producer responsibility to develop a circular economy, and addressing hazardous chemicals in plastics. Suggested implementation measures by them include building a multilateral fund, supporting smaller countries with technology transfer, improving stakeholder engagement at local levels, developing subsidiary bodies, and regular national reporting. Encouragingly, many of these national plans were proposed in the Zero Draft document released in September 2023 prior to INC-3 in Nairobi, Kenya in November 2023 and further developed in the revised draft text which will serve as the provisional agenda at INC-4 in April 2024 in Ottawa.

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Section: Extended Producer Responsibility (Epr)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Defining an effective “plastics treaty” through national perspectives and visions during early negotiations

Arora,

March,

Nieminen

et al. 2024

Camb. prisms Plast.

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“…The annual production and usage of plastics worldwide have reached 400.3 million tons in 2022. , Approximately 150–200 million tons of plastics are discarded each year into the natural environment worldwide . They enter the ecosystems and food chain following ingestion by the organisms. , Most types of plastics are considered to be relatively chemically inert, resistant to degradation, and potentially accumulate in the environment, resulting in serious environmental and health risk. , …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The annual production and usage of plastics worldwide have reached 400.3 million tons in 2022. 1,2 Approximately 150−200 million tons of plastics are discarded each year into the natural environment worldwide. 3 They enter the ecosystems and food chain following ingestion by the organisms.…”

Section: ■ Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As a common thermoplastic, poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) accounts for approximately 6.2% of the global plastic usage. ,,− Due to its excellent mechanical and thermal properties, and tenacity, PET has been widely utilized in textile fibers, terylene, polymer films, plastic bottles, and beverage containers . Large pieces of PET plastics can be degraded into micro- or nanoscale fragments to form microplastics or nanoplastics following exposure to solar radiation, mechanical forces, or microorganisms .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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High-Efficiency Degradation of PET Plastics by Glutathione S-Transferase under Mild Conditions

Huang,

Li,

Shu

et al. 2024

Environ. Sci. Technol.

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Plastic pollution is a significant environmental concern globally. Plastics are normally considered chemically inert and resistant to biodegradation. Although many papers have reported enzyme-induced biodegradation of plastics, these studies are primarily limited to enzymes of microbial origin or engineered enzymes. This study reveals that poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET, ∼6000 Da and 100 kDa) particles and plastic bottle debris (PBD, 24.9 kDa) can be efficiently degraded by a mammal-origin natural phase II metabolic isozyme, glutathione S-transferase (GST), under mild conditions. The degradation efficiency of PET plastics reached 98.9%, with a degradation rate of 2.6 g•L −1 •h −1 under ambient or physiological conditions at 1 atm. PET plastics can be degraded by GST with varying environmental or biological factors (i.e., temperature, light irradiation, pH, and presence of humic acid or protein). We suggest a novel mechanism for PET degradation other than hydrolysis, i.e., the mechanism of cleavage and release of PET plastic monomers via nitridation and oxidation. This finding also reveals a novel function of GST, previously thought to only degrade small molecules (<1000 Da). This method has been successfully applied in real human serum samples. Additionally, we have tested and confirmed the ability to degrade PET of a mammal-origin natural digestive enzyme (trypsin) and a human-derived natural metabolic enzyme (CYP450). Overall, our findings provide a potential new route to plastic pollution control and contribute to our understanding of the metabolism and fate of plastics in organisms.

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More Efficient Chemical Recycling of Poly(Ethylene Terephthalate) by Intercepting Intermediates

Watson‐Sanders,

Dadmun

2024

ChemSusChem

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The research presented in this paper offers insight into the availability of intermediates in the depolymerization of Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) to be used as feedstocks to create value added products. Monitoring the dispersity, molecular weight, end groups, and crystallinity of reaction intermediates during the heterogeneous depolymerization of PET offer insight into the mechanism by which the polymer chains evolve during the reaction. Our results show dispersity decreases and crystallinity increases, while the yield of insoluble PET remains high early in the reaction. Our interpretation of this data depicts a mechanism where chain scission targets amorphous tie‐chains between crystalline phases. Targeting the tie‐chains lowers the Mn of the polymer without changing the amount of recovered polymer flake. Chain scission of tie‐chains and isolating highly crystalline PET lowers the dispersity ((Đ)) of the polymer chains, as the size of the crystalline lamellae guide the molecular weight of the depolymerized oligomers. When sufficient end groups of PET chains are converted to alcohol groups, the PET flakes break apart into highly crystalline and less disperse polymer. Our results also demonstrate that the oligomeric depolymerization intermediates are readily repolymerized, offering new opportunities to more effectively and efficiently chemically recycle PET.

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Global producer responsibility for plastic pollution

Cited by 23 publications

References 46 publications

Defining an effective “plastics treaty” through national perspectives and visions during early negotiations

Defining an effective “plastics treaty” through national perspectives and visions during early negotiations

High-Efficiency Degradation of PET Plastics by Glutathione S-Transferase under Mild Conditions

More Efficient Chemical Recycling of Poly(Ethylene Terephthalate) by Intercepting Intermediates

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