scholarly journals Supporting a circular economy: Insights from Taiwan's plastic waste sector and lessons for developing countries

2021 ◽  
Vol 26 ◽  
pp. 228-238
Author(s):  
Ching-Yan Wu ◽  
Mei-Chih Hu ◽  
Fu-Chuan Ni
Polymers ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (8) ◽  
pp. 1229
Author(s):  
Alberto Di Bartolo ◽  
Giulia Infurna ◽  
Nadka Tzankova Dintcheva

The European Union is working towards the 2050 net-zero emissions goal and tackling the ever-growing environmental and sustainability crisis by implementing the European Green Deal. The shift towards a more sustainable society is intertwined with the production, use, and disposal of plastic in the European economy. Emissions generated by plastic production, plastic waste, littering and leakage in nature, insufficient recycling, are some of the issues addressed by the European Commission. Adoption of bioplastics–plastics that are biodegradable, bio-based, or both–is under assessment as one way to decouple society from the use of fossil resources, and to mitigate specific environmental risks related to plastic waste. In this work, we aim at reviewing the field of bioplastics, including standards and life cycle assessment studies, and discuss some of the challenges that can be currently identified with the adoption of these materials.


Author(s):  
Keshan Samarasinghe ◽  
Srikanth Pawan Kumar ◽  
Chettiyappan Visvanathan

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (6) ◽  
pp. 3553
Author(s):  
Philippe Nimmegeers ◽  
Alexej Parchomenko ◽  
Paul De Meulenaere ◽  
Dagmar R. D’hooge ◽  
Paul H. M. Van Steenberge ◽  
...  

Multilevel statistical entropy analysis (SEA) is a method that has been recently proposed to evaluate circular economy strategies on the material, component and product levels to identify critical stages of resource and functionality losses. However, the comparison of technological alternatives may be difficult, and equal entropies do not necessarily correspond with equal recyclability. A coupling with energy consumption aspects is strongly recommended but largely lacking. The aim of this paper is to improve the multilevel SEA method to reliably assess the recyclability of plastics. Therefore, the multilevel SEA method is first applied to a conceptual case study of a fictitious bag filled with plastics, and the possibilities and limitations of the method are highlighted. Subsequently, it is proposed to extend the method with the computation of the relative decomposition energies of components and products. Finally, two recyclability metrics are proposed. A plastic waste collection bag filled with plastic bottles is used as a case study to illustrate the potential of the developed extended multilevel SEA method. The proposed extension allows us to estimate the recyclability of plastics. In future work, this method will be refined and other potential extensions will be studied together with applications to real-life plastic products and plastic waste streams.


2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-18
Author(s):  
Shanti Darmastuti ◽  
Intan Putri Cahyani ◽  
Afrimadona Afrimadona ◽  
Syarif Ali

Various environmental problems that have occurred lately are more or less caused by the problem of garbage and waste from various activities of living things, especially humans. Therefore, good waste management is one of the solutions to current environmental problems. One of the main problems faced by partners is plastic waste management. Based on a preliminary field study conducted by the team, it was found that until now there had been no waste management activities carried out by the residents of Baros Village, both plastic waste management related to waste banks and plastic waste sorting. In this regard, one of the innovative solutions for plastic waste management is to apply the circular economy principle by sorting plastic waste and then managing and developing it to create a circular economy, which is recycling plastic waste into a product of economic value, so that can help people's economic life. In this case, through a circular economy approach, karang taruna gets socialization of a circular economy as a foundation in managing plastic waste. The activity began with coordination with officials in Baros Village and the board of the Setia Youth Organization, pretest, counseling, and continued with a posttest. The implementation of outreach activities is carried out online and only involves the karang taruna administrators due to the COVID-19 pandemic condition. From the results of the activities carried out, members of the karang taruna understand the importance of managing plastic waste to make it a commodity with economic value. Abstrak Berbagai permasalahan lingkungan yang terjadi belakangan ini sedikit banyak disebabkan oleh masalah sampah dan limbah dari berbagai aktivitas makhluk hidup, khususnya manusia. Oleh karena itu, pengelolaan sampah yang baik merupakan salah satu solusi dari permasalahan lingkungan saat ini. Salah satu kendala utama yang dihadapi mitra adalah pengelolaan sampah plastik. Berdasarkan studi lapangan pendahuluan yang dilakukan oleh tim, diketahui hingga saat ini belum ada kegiatan pengelolaan sampah yang dilakukan oleh warga Desa Baros, baik pengelolaan sampah plastik terkait bank sampah maupun pemilahan sampah plastik. Berkaitan dengan hal tersebut, salah satu solusi inovatif dalam pengelolaan sampah plastik adalah dengan menerapkan prinsip ekonomi sirkular dengan memilah sampah plastik kemudian mengelola dan mengembangkannya untuk menciptakan ekonomi sirkular, yaitu mendaur ulang sampah plastik menjadi produk yang bernilai ekonomis, sehingga dapat membantu kehidupan ekonomi masyarakat. Dalam hal ini melalui pendekatan ekonomi sirkuler, karang taruna mendapatkan sosialisasi ekonomi sirkuler sebagai landasan dalam pengelolaan sampah plastik. Kegiatan diawali dengan koordinasi dengan aparat di Desa Baros dan pengurus Karang Taruna Setia, pre test, penyuluhan, dan dilanjutkan dengan post test. Pelaksanaan kegiatan penyuluhan dilakukan secara online dan hanya melibatkan pengurus karang taruna karena kondisi pandemi COVID-19. Dari hasil kegiatan yang dilakukan, anggota karang taruna memahami pentingnya pengelolaan sampah plastik untuk dijadikan komoditas yang bernilai ekonomis. Kata Kunci: ekonomi sirkular; sampah plastik; komoditas; karang taruna


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Caitlin Bruce

<p>New Zealand is ranked among the top nations in waste production, including a million tonnes of plastic waste. Currently, there are methods for recycling plastic within New Zealand but these methods can be expensive and time-consuming, resulting in most of the plastic being thrown into the landfill. Because plastic does not fully degrade, it ends up in the ocean and other waterways, poisoning the water with toxins. The purpose of this research is to provide a solution to reducing plastic waste by creating an alternative method of recycling that utilises new technologies such as additive manufacturing, to create a building material that fits into the concept of the circular economy. The findings of this research explored the recycling of plastic by collecting plastic waste such as PLA (Polylactic Acid) from old 3D printed models. The plastic was recycled into filament for additive manufacturing (AM) and used to print building tile, establishing an initial proof of concept for the use of recycled plastic as a potential building material.</p>


Author(s):  
Michael Torres-Franco ◽  
Valentina Villamil

New forms of production and consumption seek greater respect for the environment and the environment in which economic agents are. This has led to circular business practices becoming more important and generating benefits in the final product. This chapter will show the relationship between this practice and SMEs, the problems faced by these companies, and the benefits that this practice can generate for the growth and competitiveness of organizations. The chapter will show in its first part the evolution of the circular economy, and then explain the relationship between it and the SMEs, highlighting the problems and obstacles faced by these companies to implement best practices in production. Finally, recommendations are given to facilitate the implementation of this practice in companies.


Author(s):  
Janki Govani ◽  
Harshit Patel ◽  
Yash Pujara ◽  
Karan Chabhadiya ◽  
Pankaj Pathak

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