Plastic Pollution: A Perspective on Matters Arising: Challenges and Opportunities

Abstract

Plastic pollution is a persistent challenge worldwide with the first reports evidencing its impact on the living and nonliving components of the environment dating back more than half a century. The rising concerns regarding the immediate and long-term consequences of plastic matter entrainment into foods and water cannot be overemphasized in light of our pursuit of sustainability (in terms of food, water, environment, and our health). Hence, some schools of thought recommend the revisitation and continuous assessment of the plastic economy, while some call for the outright ban of plastic materials, demonstrating that plastic pollution requires, more than ever, renewed, innovative, and effective approaches for a holistic solution. In this paper, dozens of reports on various aspects of plastic pollution assessment are collated and reviewed, and the impact of plastic pollution on both the living and nonliving components of the environment is discussed. Current challenges and factors hindering efforts to mitigate plastic pollution are identified to inform the presented recommendations while underscoring, for policymakers, stakeholders, and the scientific community, the exigency of finding sustainable solutions to plastic pollution that not only encompass existing challenges but also future threats presented by plastic pollution.

Figure 1

Common sources of pollution.

Figure 2

Number of publications between 1952 and 2021 on plastic pollution. The search engine was Google Scholar, while the keyword for the search was Plastic Pollution.

Figure 3

Immense contributions of polymers to human advancement and civilization cannot be overstated; polymers feature heavily in almost every sector of the economy.

Scheme 1. Possible Pathway for the Photoinduced Dechlorination of PVC in the Presence of Sunlight and Water in the Environment

Reproduced with permission from Gewert, B.; Plassmann, M. M.; MacLeod, M. Pathways for degradation of plastic polymers floating in the marine environment. Environ. Sci.: Process. Impacts2015, 17, 1513–1521. Copyright 2015, Royal Society of Chemistry, UK.

Figure 4

Lint accumulation from a winter blanket in a commercial dryer. (A) Winter blanket loaded inside a commercial dryer. (B) Accumulation of lint inside the lint trap during the drying of the blanket. (C) Unweighed lint accumulated in the lint trap from the winter blanket after a single dry cycle. Photo Credit: First author (AOCI).