Waste plastic, the challenge facing developing countries - ban it, change it, collect it?
Abstract
With changing consumption patterns, growing populations and increased urbanisation,
developing countries face significant challenges with regards to waste management. Waste plastic is
a particularly problematic one, with single-use plastic leaking into the environment, including the
marine environment, at an unprecedented rate. Around the world, countries are taking action to
minimise these impacts, including banning single-use plastics; changing petroleum-based plastics
to alternative bio-benign products such as paper, glass or biodegradable plastics; and improving
waste collection systems to ensure that all waste is appropriately collected and reprocessed or safely
disposed. However, these “solutions” are often met with resistance, from business, government
or civil society, due to the intended and unintended consequences, leaving many questioning the
most appropriate solution to reducing the leakage. This paper argues that there is no one single
solution to addressing the leakage of plastic into the environment, but that the solution is likely to be
a combination of the three approaches, based on local considerations
URI
http://hdl.handle.net/10394/33622https://www.mdpi.com/2313-4321/4/1/3/pdf
https://doi.org/10.3390/recycling4010003