scholarly journals 25 innovative and inspiring solutions to combat plastic marine litter in the Mediterranean Region

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Regional Activity Centre for Sustainable Consumption and Production
Keyword(s):  
North Africa ◽  
Circular Economy ◽  
Sustainable Consumption ◽  
Sea Surface ◽  
Mena Region ◽  
Marine Litter ◽  
Innovative Solutions ◽  
Sustainable Consumption And Production ◽  
Global Concern ◽  
Activity Centre

Plastic Marine Litter is today a global concern. It comprises up to 95% of the waste accumulated on shorelines, the ocean and sea surface and floors. Most marine litter originates from land-based sources and can have severe environmental, health and economic consequences.Yet, solutions to prevent plastic to end up as marine litter exist and have already proved to be effective. Most of these solutions build on a circular economy approach, which puts the emphasis on preventing waste and on recycling and reuse of materials and products in the first place.The Regional Activity Centre for Sustainable Consumption and Production (SCP/RAC), with the support of the SwitchMed Programme, has identified 25 eco-innovative solutions to prevent or minimize the use of persistent plastics liable to end up as marine litter, which can be easily replicated in the Middle-East North-Africa (MENA) region.

scholarly journals Studies and Investigation about the Attitude towards Sustainable Production, Consumption and Waste Generation in Line with Circular Economy in Romania

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 865 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elena Lakatos ◽  
Lucian-Ionel Cioca ◽  
Viorel Dan ◽  
Alina Ciomos ◽  
Oana Crisan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Circular Economy ◽  
Sustainable Consumption ◽  
World Population ◽  
Waste Generation ◽  
Consumer Empowerment ◽  
Online Questionnaire ◽  
Responsible Consumption ◽  
Sustainable Consumption And Production ◽  
Selective Collection

With a rapidly growing world population and the need to address the issue of consumption of global resource and its associated environmental impacts and other social and economic issues, the demand for a responsible consumption, production and prevention of waste generation become increasingly crucial. With this broad characterization of Sustainable Consumption and Production (SCP), businesses based on circular economy should become the norm. With this goal in mind, an online questionnaire survey was performed on a nationwide scale, to explore consumers’ behaviors and attitudes. It was distributed in all four of Romania’s macro-regions and reached 642 respondents. The purpose of the study has been to better understand consumers’ behavior regarding sustainable consumption and production and examine whether generations play a role in responsible consumer attitudes toward the products. Three generations (X, Y, and Z) have been examined and compared. The results show that what extent those three generation agree with the environment and the benefits of reducing resource consumption, also waste generation, selective collection, recycling and reuse. However, most of them have not adopted and do not intend to adopt consumer patterns based on the circular economy. The findings provide empirical evidence and directions that could help marketers identify their consumer’s characteristics and market segments and develop consumer empowerment strategies on the Romanian market.

scholarly journals Towards a Sustainable Future? The EU Policies Concerning Plastics and Their Didactical Potential for Primary and Secondary Teaching

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 47-62
Author(s):  
Ulrich Kerscher
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Circular Economy ◽  
Sustainable Consumption ◽  
Education For Sustainable Development ◽  
Transformation Process ◽  
Plastic Waste ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Marine Litter ◽  
Sustainable Future ◽  
The Eu

Abstract Plastic, plastic waste and marine litter indisputably is one of the key environmental issues of the 21st century. The already existing amount of accumulated marine litter, the high quantity of plastic waste escaping from waste management streams every year in combination with the low recycling rates for plastic and the missing awareness of the consumer for sustainable consumption pose a permanent threat to the ecosystem, biodiversity and human health. What is more, as economic and ecological interests strongly deviate from each other, the transformation of this status quo towards a more sustainable future will take place very slowly. Against this background, this paper will shortly outline the multitude of problems connected to plastic products throughout a productís lifecycle and introduce the idea of a circular economy. On this basis, the paper will critically analyze the strategy papers and the ongoing legislation of the EU introduced to solve these problems and to realize the transformation process of the EU-economy towards a circular economy from a sustainable development point of view. On the one hand, awareness raising is one main strategy of the EU to achieve this transformation, on the other hand, educational institutions are not specifically mentioned by the EU. In order to address this shortcoming, the paper will constitute the teaching principle global development politics / education for sustainable development as one measure to increase consumersí awareness and sustainable consumption. In general, this paper will proof that the topical area plastics can fruitfully be implemented at German schools for primary and secondary education in order to strengthen the education for sustainable development.

scholarly journals Circular Economy Practices on Wood Panels: A Bibliographic Analysis

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 1057 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cristiane de Carvalho Araújo ◽  
Rodrigo Salvador ◽  
Cassiano Moro Piekarski ◽  
Carla Sokulski ◽  
Antonio de Francisco ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Waste Management ◽  
Circular Economy ◽  
Raw Materials ◽  
Sustainable Manufacturing ◽  
Sustainable Consumption ◽  
Wood Panel ◽  
Responsible Consumption ◽  
Wood Panels ◽  
Potential Applications ◽  
Sustainable Consumption And Production

The scarcity of natural resources and the generation of waste without adequate disposal are a worldwide concern related to the linear production model.These characteristics are present in the wood panel production. Faced with this problem, the present study aimed to identify in the literature, circular economy (CE) practices in the waste management of wood panel production processes and the possibilities for implementing new practices that incorporate circularity concepts. A systematic search was conducted to select the most relevant work on the theme. A search was done using the ScienceDirect, Web of Science, and Scopus databases by combining the following keywords: “Circular Economy” (and its possible variations), “Wood-based Panel”, and “Wood Waste”. The results evidenced circular economy practices on waste management already being used by the wood panel industry, besides potential practices to increase circularity. The changes go towards sustainable manufacturing and responsible consumption, which aims to “ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns”. Opportunities range from the extraction of raw materials to the disposal of wood panel waste at the end-of-life. The circular economy model is still recent and the process of transitioning is in its initial phase, as well as scientific research on the theme, mainly regarding the wood panel industry. Studies addressing the circular economy and wood panels are not yet widespread, pointing to a gap yet to be explored. The bibliographic review allowed identifying the existence of potential applications of circular economy in the wood panel industry; yet, this piece of research points to a broad field of exploration.

scholarly journals Let’s Talk about Circular Economy: A Qualitative Exploration of Consumer Perceptions

2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 286 ◽  
Author(s):  
Siet J. Sijtsema ◽  
Harriëtte M. Snoek ◽  
Mariët A. van Haaster-de Winter ◽  
Hans Dagevos
Keyword(s):  
Circular Economy ◽  
Sustainable Consumption ◽  
Active Role ◽  
Consumer Involvement ◽  
Clear Understanding ◽  
Group Discussions ◽  
Advantages And Disadvantages ◽  
Sustainable Consumption And Production ◽  
The Right ◽  
Qualitative Exploration

Consumer involvement plays a major role in the circular economy (CE), which requires a new and more active role of consumers. However, consumer awareness of and interest and involvement in the CE is low. Therefore, we aimed to find the starting points for consumer involvement in activities that promote a CE by exploring consumers’ general perceptions of the CE and several practice cases. Four focus group discussions were conducted (N = 24) in the Netherlands. The group discussions showed that most consumers did not have a clear understanding of the term “circular economy,” although their associations pointed in the right direction. Perceptions, attitudes, motives and barriers in terms of advantages and disadvantages varied among the participants and were related to (1) the functionalities of the products, (2) the production system, (3) economic aspects and (4) emotions such as concern about risks. We identified four key messages: targeting with regard to behaviours, attitudes and product functionalities; aligning with emotions; linking to practical cases; and applying multidimensional CE-related behaviour in everyday life and involving consumers in its innovation. These key messages are helpful in overcoming obstacles and barriers, raising awareness and providing input for sustainable consumption and production in the CE.

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