Moving policy and regulation forward for single-use plastic alternatives

Abstract

Single-use plastics are often used once or cannot be reused for extended periods. They are widely consumed with the rapid development of social economy. The waste generated by single-use plastics threatens ecosystem health by entering the environment and ultimately restricts sustainable human development. The innovation of sustainable and environmentally friendly single-use plastic alternative materials and the joint participation of governments, enterprises and the public are promising technologies and management approaches that can solve the problem of single-use plastics wastes. The development of single-use plastic alternative products can be promoted fundamentally only by improving relevant legislation and standards, providing differentiated industrial policies, encouraging scientific and technological innovation and expanding public participation.

Graphical abstract

Keywords

Single-use plastic alternatives / Policy / Regulation / Sustainable development

References

[1] Ahamed A, Vallam P, Iyer N S, Veksha A, Bobacka J, Lisak G (2021). Life cycle assessment of plastic grocery bags and their alternatives in cities with confined waste management structure: A Singapore case study. Journal of Cleaner Production, 278: 123956

[2] Chen Y, Awasthi A K, Wei F, Tan Q, Li J (2021). Single-use plastics: Production, usage, disposal, and adverse impacts. Science of the Total Environment, 752: 141772

[3] Golwala H, Zhang X, Iskander S M, Smith A L (2021). Solid waste: An overlooked source of microplastics to the environment. Science of the Total Environment, 769: 144581

[4] Haider T, Völker C, Kramm J, Landfester K, Wurm F R (2019). Plastics of the future? The impact of biodegradable polymers on the environment and on society. Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 58(1): 50–62

[5] Li Z, Zhao F (2017). An analytical hierarchy process-based study on the factors affecting legislation on plastic bags in the USA. Waste Management & Research, 35(8): 795–809

[6] Mohanan N, Montazer Z, Sharma P K, Levin D B (2020). Microbial and enzymatic degradation of synthetic plastics. Frontiers in Microbiology, 11: 580709

[7] Napper I E, Thompson R C (2019). Environmental deterioration of biodegradable, oxo-biodegradable, compostable, and conventional plastic carrier bags in the sea, soil, and open-air over a 3-year period. Environmental Science & Technology, 53(9): 4775–4783

[8] Plastic Oceans (2020). The facts “more than 8 million tons of plastic are dumped in our oceans every year”.https://plasticoceans.org/the-facts/

[9] Plastics Europe (2020). Plastics – The Facts 2020: An Analysis of European Plastics Production, Demand and Waste Data (Plastics Europe 2019)

[10] Rujnić-Sokele M, Pilipović A (2017). Challenges and opportunities of biodegradable plastics: A mini review. Waste Management & Research, 35(2): 132–140

[11] Shen M, Song B, Zeng G, Zhang Y, Huang W, Wen X, Tang W (2020). Are biodegradable plastics a promising solution to solve the global plastic pollution? Environmental Pollution, 263: 114469

[12] Wang L, Wu W, Bolan N S, Tsang D C W, Li Y, Qin M, Hou D (2021). Environmental fate, toxicity and risk management strategies of nanoplastics in the environment: Current status and future perspectives. Journal of Hazardous Materials, 401: 123415

[13] Wang Z, Huo J, Duan Y (2020). The impact of government incentives and penalties on willingness to recycle plastic waste: An evolutionary game theory perspective. Frontiers of Environmental Science & Engineering, 14(2): 29

[14] Wu W M, Criddle G S (2021). Characterization of biodegradation of plastics in insect larvae. Methods in Enzymology, 648: 95–120

Acknowledgements

This work was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 41977030 and 42030704) and the National Key Research and Development Program of China (No. 2019YFC1906704). We are also grateful to the editor and three anonymous reviewers for their insightful comments which improved the manuscript.

RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS

2021 Higher Education Press