Production, use, and fate of all plastics ever made
TLDR
By identifying and synthesizing dispersed data on production, use, and end-of-life management of polymer resins, synthetic fibers, and additives, this work presents the first global analysis of all mass-produced plastics ever manufactured.Abstract:
Plastics have outgrown most man-made materials and have long been under environmental scrutiny. However, robust global information, particularly about their end-of-life fate, is lacking. By identifying and synthesizing dispersed data on production, use, and end-of-life management of polymer resins, synthetic fibers, and additives, we present the first global analysis of all mass-produced plastics ever manufactured. We estimate that 8300 million metric tons (Mt) as of virgin plastics have been produced to date. As of 2015, approximately 6300 Mt of plastic waste had been generated, around 9% of which had been recycled, 12% was incinerated, and 79% was accumulated in landfills or the natural environment. If current production and waste management trends continue, roughly 12,000 Mt of plastic waste will be in landfills or in the natural environment by 2050.read more
Citations
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TL;DR: Information graphics and documents reporting the lifetime of different plastic goods in the environment were reviewed to answer the seemingly simple question: What evidence underpins how long plastic goods last in the Environment?
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Technical pathways for distributed recycling of polymer composites for distributed manufacturing: Windshield wiper blades
Samantha C. Dertinger,Nicole Gallup,Nagendra Gautam Tanikella,Marzio Grasso,Samireh Vahid,Peter J. S. Foot,Joshua M. Pearce,Joshua M. Pearce +7 more
TL;DR: In this paper, the technical pathways for DRAM of complex polymer composites using a case study of windshield wiper blades were explored and a successful pathway for fabricating new products was found and the mechanical properties of the resultant components were quantified.
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Microplastic degradation as a sustainable concurrent approach for producing biofuel and obliterating hazardous environmental effects: A state-of-the-art review.
Arjay A. Arpia,Wei Hsin Chen,Wei Hsin Chen,Wei Hsin Chen,Aristotle T. Ubando,Salman Raza Naqvi,Alvin B. Culaba +6 more
TL;DR: This review aims to present MP degradation routes with a great focus on the thermodegradation and biodegradation routes as sustainable routes of MP degradation that can achieve the reduction and obliteration of MPs in the environment, thus reducing their hazardous effects.
References
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