| Title | Plastics: friends or foes? The circularity and plastic waste footprint |
|---|---|
| ID_Doc | 21827 |
| Authors | Klemes, JJ; Fan, YV; Jiang, P |
| Title | Plastics: friends or foes? The circularity and plastic waste footprint |
| Year | 2021 |
| Published | Energy Sources Part A-Recovery Utilization And Environmental Effects, 43.0, 13 |
| Abstract | The plastics are becoming one of the most discussed topics in media and research. They have been branded sometimes as evil, which has to be replaced, in some cases at any cost. However, an equitable analysis and assessment are needed comparing all pros and cons based on environmental footprints quantification with a complete life cycle assessment. These should include assessment of possible health risks, consumed energy, released emissions and effluents, as well as consumption of raw materials, water and dealing with the wastewater. The assessment of recyclability, reprocessing and environmental burden of disposal phases are also needed. This presented work tends to contribute to the discussion of what recommendations should be developed to the industry and business to minimize the environmental impacts. A novel Plastic Waste Footprint is proposed to understand the net potential impacts of plastic and to facilitate the decision making for plastic replacement. This study highlighted that plastic could be a friend if the Circular Economy (CE) is appropriately followed. Reduction (refrain, redesign/reduce, reuse, repair, refurbish, remanufacture, repurpose), recycle and recovery (no leaking into the ocean or other streams) play the decisive roles to minimize and recover the embodied energy, promoting sustainable plastic values chain. Policy to regulate/encourage manufacturers toward sustainable practice (taxation, end of life collection, an incentive of using secondary raw materials) and education (refrain, reuse, separation and recycle) on the potential users are important from not evolving the plastic from friend with high functionality to foe. |
Similar Articles
| ID | Score | Article |
|---|---|---|
4615
|
Venkatachalam, V; Pohler, M; Spierling, S; Nickel, L; Barner, L; Endres, HJ Design for Recycling Strategies Based on the Life Cycle Assessment and End of Life Options of Plastics in a Circular Economy(2022)Macromolecular Chemistry And Physics, 223, 13 | |
| 889
|
Bucknall, DG Plastics as a materials system in a circular economy(2020)Philosophical Transactions Of The Royal Society A-Mathematical Physical And Engineering Sciences, 378, 2176 | |
| 1433
|
Vlad, IM; Toma, E Overview on the Key Figures with Impact on the Circular Economy Through the Life Cycle of Plastics(2022)Materiale Plastice, 59, 2 | |
| 24534
|
von Vacano, B; Mangold, H; Seitz, C The Time is ripe Plastics in the Cycle(2021)Chemie In Unserer Zeit, 55, 6 | |
| 25707
|
Venkatachalam, V; Spierling, S; Endres, HJ Recyclable, but not recycled-an indicator to quantify the environmental impacts of plastic waste disposal(2024) | |
| 28793
|
Mastellone, ML Technical description and performance evaluation of different packaging plastic waste management's systems in a circular economy perspective(2020) | |
| 26501
|
Vlasopoulos, A; Malinauskaite, J; Zabnienska-Góra, A; Jouhara, H Life cycle assessment of plastic waste and energy recovery(2023) | |
| 2292
|
Johansen, MR; Christensen, TB; Ramos, TM; Syberg, K A review of the plastic value chain from a circular economy perspective(2022) | |
| 29250
|
Schulte, A; Kampmann, B; Galafton, C Measuring the Circularity and Impact Reduction Potential of Post-Industrial and Post-Consumer Recycled Plastics(2023)Sustainability, 15.0, 16 | |
| 21617
|
Sadhukhan, J; Sekar, K Economic Conditions to Circularize Clinical Plastics(2022)Energies, 15.0, 23 |