Production, use, and fate of all plastics ever made
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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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The Chemistry and Kinetics of Polyethylene Pyrolysis: A Process to Produce Fuels and Chemicals.
TL;DR: Detailed analysis of the gas- and liquid-phase products revealed their potential as precursors for production of fuels and chemicals and suggested contributions of non-random reaction of random-scission fragments at low conversion.
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Between source and sea: The role of wastewater treatment in reducing marine microplastics.
Shirra Freeman,Andy M. Booth,Isam Sabbah,Rachel Tiller,Jan Dierking,Katja Klun,Ana Rotter,Eric Ben-David,Jamileh Javidpour,Dror L. Angel +9 more
TL;DR: The current state of knowledge regarding MPs, wastewater and relevant policies that could influence the development and deployment of new technologies within WWTPs are described and existing technologies for capturing very small MP particles are reviewed.
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Conversion and removal strategies for microplastics in wastewater treatment plants and landfills
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors provide a comprehensive summary of current knowledge about the composition and life cycle of microplastics in both WWTPs and landfills and discuss technologies that could be implemented in WWTP or landfill leachate treatment facilities to capture MPs and potentially upcycle the polymers to value-added products.
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Distinct microplastic distributions in soils of different land-use types: A case study of Chinese farmlands.
TL;DR: Variation analyses of MP characteristics revealed that cereal crop farmlands (wheat, paddy land) were more likely to contain fibrous shapes and large MP particles (1-5 mm), and Economically important tree lands (orchards, woodlands) were likely to containing fragment shapes and pony-size MPs (0.02-0.2 mm).
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Microplastic contamination of table salts from Taiwan, including a global review.
TL;DR: It was found that 94% of salt products tested worldwide contained microplastics, with 3 out of 27 polymer types (polyethylene terephthalate, polypropylene, polyethylene) accounting for the majority of all particles.
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