Reducing plastic litter for a cleaner planet

International Journal of Environmental Studies Pub Date : 2023-07-04 DOI:10.1080/00207233.2023.2228624

N. Agarwala

引用次数: 1

Abstract

ABSTRACT The use of plastics since they were first mass produced in the 1940s has increased by over 250% owing to their versatility, high durability and low cost. Increased usage with irresponsible disposal and the high molecular weight of plastic that prevents quick and natural degradation has made this versatile material into an environmental hazard that is threatening life both on land and in the oceans. With estimates of more plastics in the ocean than the fish by 2050 under a business-as-usual scenario, marine plastic litter has begun to affect human sustenance. This paper aims to provide a review of the efforts to reduce plastic litter worldwide.

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减少塑料垃圾，让地球更清洁

摘要塑料自20世纪40年代首次大规模生产以来，由于其多功能性、高耐久性和低成本，其使用量增加了250%以上。不负责任的处理和防止快速自然降解的高分子量塑料的使用增加，使这种多用途材料成为威胁陆地和海洋生命的环境危害。据估计，在一切照旧的情况下，到2050年，海洋中的塑料数量将超过鱼类，海洋塑料垃圾已开始影响人类的生存。本文旨在回顾世界范围内减少塑料垃圾的努力。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

International Journal of Environmental Studies Social Sciences-Geography, Planning and Development

CiteScore

3.30

自引率

0.00%

发文量

121

期刊介绍： For more than 45 years, the International Journal of Environmental Studies has been pre-eminent in its field. The environment is understood to comprise the natural and the man-made, and their interactions; including such matters as pollution, health effects, analytical methods, political approaches, social impacts etc. Papers favouring an interdisciplinary approach are preferred, because the evidence of more than 45 years appears to be that many intellectual tools and many causes and effects are at issue in any environmental problem - and its solution. This does not mean that a single focus or a narrow view is unwelcome; provided always that the evidence is indicated and the method is robust. Pragmatic decision-making and applicable policies are subjects of interest, together with the problems in establishing facts about dynamic systems where long periods of observation and precise measurement may be difficult to secure. In other words, a systems or holistic approach to the environment and a scientific analysis are complementary, and the distinction between ’hard’ and ’soft’ science is bridged in most of the papers published. These may be on any item in the agenda of environmental science: land, water, food, conservation, population, risk analysis, energy, economics of ecological and non-ecological approaches, social advocacy of arguments for change, legal measures, implications of urbanism, energy choices, waste disposal, recycling, transport systems and other issues of mass society. There is concern also for marginal areas, under-developed societies, minorities, species loss; and indeed no element of the subject of environmental studies, seen in an international and interactive mode, is excluded.