Cook, E orcid.org/0000-0003-3902-7705, Velis, CA orcid.org/0000-0002-1906-726X and Cottom, JW orcid.org/0000-0002-3480-3982 (2022) Scaling up resource recovery of plastics in the emergent circular economy to prevent plastic pollution: Assessment of risks to health and safety in the Global South. Waste Management & Research: The Journal for a Sustainable Circular Economy, 40 (12). pp. 1680-1707. ISSN 0734-242X
Abstract
Over the coming decades, a large additional mass of plastic waste will become available for recycling, as efforts increase to reduce plastic pollution and facilitate a circular economy. New infrastructure will need to be developed, yet the processes and systems chosen should not result in adverse effects on human health and the environment. Here, we present a rapid review and critical semi-quantitative assessment of the potential risks posed by eight approaches to recovering value during the resource recovery phase from post-consumer plastic packaging waste collected and separated with the purported intention of recycling. The focus is on the Global South, where there are more chances that high risk processes could be run below standards of safe operation. Results indicate that under non-idealised operational conditions, mechanical reprocessing is the least impactful on the environment and therefore most appropriate for implementation in developing countries. Processes known as ‘chemical recycling’ are hard to assess due to lack of real-world process data. Given their lack of maturity and potential for risk to human health and the environment (handling of potentially hazardous substances under pressure and heat), it is unlikely they will make a useful addition to the circular economy in the Global South in the near future. Inevitably, increasing circular economy activity will require expansion towards targeting flexible, multi-material and multilayer products, for which mechanical recycling has well-established limitations. Our comparative risk overview indicates major barriers to changing resource recovery mode from the already dominant mechanical recycling mode towards other nascent or energetic recovery approaches.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © The Author(s) 2022. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) which permits any use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access page (https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage). |
Keywords: | Plastic, solid waste, health and safety, Global South, resource recovery, circular economy |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Engineering & Physical Sciences (Leeds) > School of Civil Engineering (Leeds) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 09 Aug 2022 14:35 |
Last Modified: | 25 Jun 2023 23:04 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | SAGE Publications |
Identification Number: | 10.1177/0734242x221105415 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:189815 |