Impacts of plastic waste management strategies

Abstract

The ecological and societal impacts of plastics production, use, and waste are a complex global challenge. Management strategies to mitigate the impacts of plastics, such as recycling, waste-to-energy, and replacement with alternative materials have impacts of their own. Achieving long-term sustainability of plastics use therefore requires considering the externalized impacts of such management strategies. Here, we assessed the literature on the most common plastic waste management strategies to identify their impacts in relation to the Sustainable Development Goals. We reviewed impacts of bans, levies, and taxes; alternative products; recycling; waste-to-energy; plastic recovery; and extended producer responsibility. Our analysis identified a total of 259 measured impacts of plastic waste mitigation strategies, from 113 papers. Ninety-three impacts were negative, 104 were positive, 11 were neutral, and 51 depended on the context of implementation. Consideration of the impacts of both plastic materials and management strategies is necessary to avoid perverse outcomes of plastic pollution mitigation efforts.

Mechanistic Insights into Cellular and Molecular Basis of Protein‐Nanoplastic Interactions

“…They include, a) ban on certain plastic products, b) targeting consumption reduction, (c) obligating and incentivizing the producers for waste management, d) standardizing safety label on plastic products about their negative impact on environment and procedure of disposal, e) setting up collection targets and abiding by the same, f) finding and implementing alternate resources, and g) raising awareness among the mass. [199,200] However, from the economic viability point of view, the cost of banning, regulating and mandating manufacturers for waste management enforces high financial risk especially for microscale and small-scale industries. [201] Moreover, for low income developing countries such regulations will increase the GDP of the plastic products.…”

Can Markets Improve Recycling Performance? A Cross-Country Regression Analysis and Case Studies

“…Recycling is a substitute for landfill services. A subsidy lowers the relative price of recycling to landfill services, leading to more waste being recycled and less thrown into landfills (For recent studies comparing waste taxation and recycling subsidy regimes, see Helm et al [40] and Hua et al [41]). The effect a recycling subsidy has on the market for landfills is shown in Panel (b) of Figure 1.…”

The plastic-scape: Applying seascape ecology to marine plastic pollution

“…Another cross-scale impact is the influence of national governance and socio-economic status on local plastic waste management strategies. National governance and wealth influence the resources, technology, and funding available to implement local waste management, ultimately changing local leakage rates (Helm et al, 2022).…”

“…Failure to mitigate MPP and its consequences through current efforts has fueled calls for transformative, system-wide change along the entire plastics' life cycle (Borrelle et al, 2020;Raubenheimer and Urho, 2020). This will require action across scales of governance that not only consider policy objectives, but also feasibility, cost, trade-offs, and efficacy for mitigating the social, ecological, and economic consequences of MPP (Tessnow-von Wysocki and Le Billon, 2019;Murphy et al, 2021;Helm et al, 2022). This approach must 1) be transdisciplinary, 2) be multi-scale, 3) be spatially-explicit, and 4) encompass the entire plastic-scape-which includes all the governance systems, human actors, and ecological components (i.e., abiotic, and biotic processes) that contribute to patterns of plastic production, use, and pollution, as well as the interactions between MPP and human and natural communities that drive its social and ecological consequences (Figure 1).…”