Global Plastics Outlook Economic Drivers, Environmental Impacts and Policy Options


Book Description

While plastics are extremely useful materials for modern society, plastics production and waste generation continue to increase with worsening environmental impacts despite international, national and local policy responses, as well as industry commitments. The first of two reports, this Outlook intends to inform and support policy efforts to combat plastic leakage.




Plastics in the Oceans


Book Description

Increasing plastic pollution, particularly in oceans, calls for a fundamental shift towards future-proof plastics throughout the circular economy. In a landmark move in 2022, the United Nations adopted a historic resolution to craft an international legally binding instrument to tackle plastic pollution. In line with this global initiative, Plastics in the Oceans investigates the problem of plastic pollution in oceans, proposes solutions relating to current and advanced materials and technologies, and offers an optimal sustainable strategy to eliminate plastic pollution by 2040. The title: Addresses the entire lifecycle of plastic, from production and design to disposal, and advocates for a comprehensive approach to mitigate plastic pollution. Focuses on primary and secondary microplastics, recognizing their significant impact on marine ecosystems. Explores various alternative materials, including biobased biodegradable polymers, as viable alternatives to conventional plastics. Provides insights into regulatory frameworks pertaining to plastic pollution across major world regions. Elucidates the need for reducing plastic production and enhancing recycling efforts in combating plastic pollution. Suggests strategies aligned with the principles of the 3Rs—reduce, redesign, recycle—to foster the development of sustainable and future-proof plastics. This book is aimed at technical readers in environmental engineering, chemical engineering, and polymer chemistry, as well as general readers interested in scientific solutions to the plastics pollution problem.




Reckoning with the U.S. Role in Global Ocean Plastic Waste


Book Description

An estimated 8 million metric tons (MMT) of plastic waste enters the world's ocean each year - the equivalent of dumping a garbage truck of plastic waste into the ocean every minute. Plastic waste is now found in almost every marine habitat, from the ocean surface to deep sea sediments to the ocean's vast mid-water region, as well as the Great Lakes. This report responds to a request in the bipartisan Save Our Seas 2.0 Act for a scientific synthesis of the role of the United States both in contributing to and responding to global ocean plastic waste. The United States is a major producer of plastics and in 2016, generated more plastic waste by weight and per capita than any other nation. Although the U.S. solid waste management system is advanced, it is not sufficient to deter leakage into the environment. Reckoning with the U.S. Role in Global Ocean Plastic Waste calls for a national strategy by the end of 2022 to reduce the nation's contribution to global ocean plastic waste at every step - from production to its entry into the environment - including by substantially reducing U.S. solid waste generation. This report also recommends a nationally-coordinated and expanded monitoring system to track plastic pollution in order to understand the scales and sources of U.S. plastic waste, set reduction and management priorities, and measure progress.




OECD Environmental Performance Reviews: United States 2023


Book Description

The United States, the world’s largest economy, has made progress in reducing several environmental pressures while maintaining one of the highest Gross Domestic Products per capita in the world. It has decoupled emissions of greenhouse gases, air pollutants, water abstractions and domestic material consumption from economic and population growth.




Plastic Waste and Recycling


Book Description

Plastic Waste and Recycling: Environmental Impact, Societal Issues, Prevention, and Solutions begins with an introduction to the different types of plastic materials, their uses, and the concepts of reduce, reuse and recycle before examining plastic types, chemistry and degradation patterns that are organized by non-degradable plastic, degradable and biodegradable plastics, biopolymers and bioplastics. Other sections cover current challenges relating to plastic waste, explain the sources of waste and their routes into the environment, and provide systematic coverage of plastic waste treatment methods, including mechanical processing, monomerization, blast furnace feedstocks, gasification, thermal recycling, and conversion to fuel. This is an essential guide for anyone involved in plastic waste or recycling, including researchers and advanced students across plastics engineering, polymer science, polymer chemistry, environmental science, and sustainable materials. - Presents actionable solutions for reducing plastic waste, with a focus on the concepts of collection, re-use, recycling and replacement - Considers major societal and environmental issues, providing the reader with a broader understanding and supporting effective implementation - Includes detailed case studies from across the globe, offering unique insights into different solutions and approaches




OECD Series on Risk Management of Chemicals A Chemicals Perspective on Designing with Sustainable Plastics Goals, Considerations and Trade-offs


Book Description

The development of plastic products does not systematically take sustainability, particularly from a chemicals perspective, into account. This report seeks to enable the creation of inherently sustainable plastic products by integrating sustainable chemistry thinking in the design process.




Not the End of the World


Book Description

This "truly essential" book will transform how you see our biggest environmental problems (Margaret Atwood)—and explains how we can solve them. It’s become common to tell kids that they’re going to die from climate change. We are constantly bombarded by doomsday headlines that tell us the soil won’t be able to support crops, fish will vanish from our oceans, and that we should reconsider having children. But in this bold, radically hopeful book, data scientist Hannah Ritchie argues that if we zoom out, a very different picture emerges. In fact, the data shows we’ve made so much progress on these problems that we could be on track to achieve true sustainability for the first time in human history. Did you know that carbon emissions per capita are actually down, deforestation peaked back in the 1980s, the air we breathe now is vastly improved from centuries ago, and more people died from natural disasters a hundred years ago? Packed with the latest research, practical guidance, and enlightening graphics, this book will make you rethink almost everything you’ve been told about the environment. Not the End of the World will give you the tools to understand our current crisis and make lifestyle changes that actually have an impact. Hannah cuts through the noise by outlining what works, what doesn’t, and what we urgently need to focus on so we can leave a sustainable planet for future generations. These problems are big. But they are solvable. We are not doomed. We can build a better future for everyone. Let’s turn that opportunity into reality.







The Ocean Plastics Reduction Guide


Book Description

The objective of this guide is to raise awareness about the oceans' crucial importance to us and to the planet, and the growing threats posed by plastics discharged into and accumulating in the oceans. The guide outlines the key problems and challenges and how these can be addressed. The guide is promoting circular solutions to the ocean plastic pollution, and intends to inspire impactful action and change.




The World's Scavengers


Book Description

A fascinating analysis of the world's scavengers as performing an important economic role in the production and consumption of food.