Look before you leap: Are increased recycling efforts accelerating microplastic pollution?

Abstract

To fight plastic pollution and reach net-zero ambitions, policy and industry set goals to increase the recycling of plastics and the recycled content in products. While this ideally reduces demand for virgin material, it also increases pressure on recyclers to find suitable endmarkets for the recyclate. This may lead to two effects: a multiplication of recycled content in applications already made of plastic and a substitution of non-plastic materials with cheap, low-quality recyclate. Both areas of application may be sources of microplastic (MP) pollution. Combined with the inherent degradation of recyclate during its lifecycle, but also during recycling, we expect the increase in recycled content will subsequently lead to an increase in MP pollution. We propose a framework to investigate the risk of MP generation through plastic applications throughout their subsequent lifecycle of production, use phase, and end of life. We apply the framework to two prominent examples of recyclate endmarkets, that is, textiles and wood-plastic, and point out where the degradation effects can cause higher release. To conclude, we outline a research agenda to support policymakers in their decision making on specifying targets for recycling and recycled content.