8 febbraio 2024 – Recycling and Reuse to Solve the World’s Plastics Problem.

Many experts believe that the solution to plastic waste mainly lies not in developing better bioplastics, but in overhauling the world’s economy to recycle far-greater quantities of plastic than currently are being reused. A two-year study called Breaking the Plastic Wave, found that despite the efforts of industry, governments, and NGOs, the plastic problem is getting much worse. Plastic is already accumulating in staggering quantities, especially in marine environments.

If the world continues on its current course of skyrocketing plastic consumption, the amount of plastic waste being produced will triple by 2040. The solution to this burgeoning problem is a massive overhaul of the world’s plastic system that reuses and recycles plastic in a circular economy, along with other, smaller-scale changes, including bioplastics. If this recommendation is adopted, plastic waste could be reduced by 80 percent over the next two decades. Among the remedies proposed are the reduction of plastic packaging wherever possible, substituted with paper or compostable material; designing products for effective recycling; increasing mechanical recycling; scaling up collection and recycling efforts in moderate- and low-income countries, where the vast majority of ocean plastic originates; and an end to exports of waste plastic, which would force countries where the waste is generated to come up with solutions to the plastics problem. It’s called extended producer responsibility / product take-back. Please note that approximately 95 percent of the plastic that is transported by rivers into the oceans comes from just 10 rivers in Asia and Africa.