Cleaning Up without Messing Up: Maximizing the Benefits of Plastic Clean-Up Technologies through New Regulatory Approaches

Jannike Falk-Andersson*, Idun Rognerud, Hannah De Frond, Giulia Leone, Rachel Karasik, Zoie Diana, Hanna Dijkstra, Justine Ammendolia, Marcus Eriksen, Ria Utz, Tony R. Walker, Kathinka Fürst

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to JournalReview articleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

As the global plastics crisis grows, numerous technologies have been invented and implemented to recover plastic pollution from the environment. Although laudable, unregulated clean-up technologies may be inefficient and have unintended negative consequences on ecosystems, for example, through bycatch or removal of organic matter important for ecosystem functions. Despite these concerns, plastic clean-up technologies can play an important role in reducing litter in the environment. As the United Nations Environment Assembly is moving toward an international, legally binding treaty to address plastic pollution by 2024, the implementation of plastic clean-up technologies should be regulated to secure their net benefits and avoid unintended damages. Regulation can require environmental impact assessments and life cycle analysis to be conducted predeployment on a case-by-case basis to determine their effectiveness and impact and secure environmentally sound management. During operations catch-efficiency and bycatch of nonlitter items, as well as waste management of recovered litter, should be documented. Data collection for monitoring, research, and outreach to mitigate plastic pollution is recommended as added value of implementation of clean-up technologies.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)13304-13312
Number of pages9
JournalEnvironmental Science and Technology
Volume57
Issue number36
Early online date28 Aug 2023
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 12 Sept 2023

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
We thank the Norwegian Research Council for funding the project Asian Scientific Alliance for Plastic Pollution (ASAP) and value network management under the MARINFORSK program (project number 302575). This work is endorsed by the International Knowledge Hub Against Plastic Pollution ( ikhapp.org ). The contributions of J.F-A., K.F., and I.R. were supported by ASAP. G.L. was supported by the Research Foundation Flanders (FWO), as a PhD grant strategic basic research, application number 1S13522N. H.D.’s work was funded under the EU project CLAIM (Cleaning Litter by developing and Applying Innovative Methods in European seas) H2020 Grant agreement ID: 774586. The contribution of J.A. was supported by the National Science and Engineering Research Council via the Alexander Graham Bell Canada Graduate Scholarship-Doctoral (CGS D), award number #557769-2021. Z.D. was supported by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences of the National Institutes of Health under Award Number T32ES021432. (The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.) The contribution of T.R.W. was funded by National Science and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) Discovery Grant RGPIN-2018-04119. We also thank all the webinar participants, including the authors of this paper as well as Adam Lindquist, Carl Höjman, Eivind Bastesen, and Jean-David Lantagne. We would like to thank Jeremy Ashton (Nicholas Institute for Energy, Environment, & Sustainability), Braden Phillips-Welborn (Nicholas Institute for Energy, Environment, & Sustainability), and Hans Adam (Norwegian Institute for Water Research) for their help in running and promoting the webinar. We would like to thank all of the webinar attendees for their time, attention, and thoughtful questions.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 The Authors. Published by American Chemical Society.

Funding

We thank the Norwegian Research Council for funding the project Asian Scientific Alliance for Plastic Pollution (ASAP) and value network management under the MARINFORSK program (project number 302575). This work is endorsed by the International Knowledge Hub Against Plastic Pollution ( ikhapp.org ). The contributions of J.F-A., K.F., and I.R. were supported by ASAP. G.L. was supported by the Research Foundation Flanders (FWO), as a PhD grant strategic basic research, application number 1S13522N. H.D.’s work was funded under the EU project CLAIM (Cleaning Litter by developing and Applying Innovative Methods in European seas) H2020 Grant agreement ID: 774586. The contribution of J.A. was supported by the National Science and Engineering Research Council via the Alexander Graham Bell Canada Graduate Scholarship-Doctoral (CGS D), award number #557769-2021. Z.D. was supported by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences of the National Institutes of Health under Award Number T32ES021432. (The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.) The contribution of T.R.W. was funded by National Science and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) Discovery Grant RGPIN-2018-04119. We also thank all the webinar participants, including the authors of this paper as well as Adam Lindquist, Carl Höjman, Eivind Bastesen, and Jean-David Lantagne. We would like to thank Jeremy Ashton (Nicholas Institute for Energy, Environment, & Sustainability), Braden Phillips-Welborn (Nicholas Institute for Energy, Environment, & Sustainability), and Hans Adam (Norwegian Institute for Water Research) for their help in running and promoting the webinar. We would like to thank all of the webinar attendees for their time, attention, and thoughtful questions.

FundersFunder number
International Knowledge Hub Against Plastic Pollution
Nicholas Institute for Energy, Environment, & Sustainability
National Institutes of HealthT32ES021432, RGPIN-2018-04119
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
Horizon 2020 Framework Programme774586
Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada557769-2021
European Commission
Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek1S13522N
Norges forskningsråd302575
Norsk Institutt for Vannforskning

    Keywords

    • added value
    • bycatch
    • clean-up technology
    • externalities
    • litter
    • plastic pollution
    • plastics treaty
    • regulations

    Fingerprint

    Dive into the research topics of 'Cleaning Up without Messing Up: Maximizing the Benefits of Plastic Clean-Up Technologies through New Regulatory Approaches'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

    Cite this