References & Resources

1. Plastics

Plastics Europe plasticseurope.org the plastics trade association in Europe
Plastics Information Europe pieweb.plasteurope.com
The Eleven Most Important Types of Plastic www.creativemechanisms.com/blog/eleven-most-important-plastics
Everything You Need to Know about Polylactic Acid [PLA] www.creativemechanisms.com/blog/learn-about-polylactic-acid-pla-prototypes
Everything You Need to Know About Polypropylene Plastic (PP) www.creativemechanisms.com/blog/all-about-polypropylene-pp-plastic
Everything You Need to Know About ABS Plastic www.creativemechanisms.com/blog/everything-you-need-to-know-about-abs-plastic
Everything You Need to Know About PVC Plastic www.creativemechanisms.com/blog/everything-you-need-to-know-about-pvc-plastic
Everything You Need to Know About the World’s Most Useful Plastic (PET and Polyester) www.creativemechanisms.com/blog/everything-about-polyethylene-terephthalate-pet-polyester
Everything You Need to Know about Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) www.creativemechanisms.com/blog/everything-you-need-to-know-about-pha-polyhydroxyalkanoates
The Discovery of Nylon edu.rsc.org/download?ac=11184
Polyurethanes www.polyurethanes.org/en & www.madehow.com/Volume-6/Polyurethane.html
- Toluene https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toluene produced as a by-product from styrene manufacturing and from coke-oven operations
- Toluene di-isocyanate https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toluene_diisocyanate
A range of resources on different plastics www.xometry.com/resources/materials
Statista : www.statista.com/statistics/281126/global-plastics-production-share-of-various-countries-and-regions
Plastic manufacturing by country – fun facts dolphinplastics.com.au/blog/plastic-manufacturing-country-fun-facts
Top 100 Polymer Producers (2021) www.minderoo.org/plastic-waste-makers-index/pwmi-2021/data/indices/producers
Marcos, J. & Marcos, J. (2017) Modelling of Naphtha Cracking for Olefins Production; www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Modelling-of-Naphtha-Cracking-for-Olefins-Marcos-Marcos/6d77b3af5c11b88c97c8c910b82628cab7885abd

2. Global controls

UNEA (2019) Resolution 4/9 addressing single use plastic pollution wedocs.unep.org/bitstream/handle/20.500.11822/28473/English.pdf
UNEA (2019) Resolution 4/6 addressing marine plastic litter and microplastics wedocs.unep.org/bitstream/handle/20.500.11822/28471/English.pdf
IPBES Global Assessment Report on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (2019) ipbes.net/sites/default/files/downloads/spm_unedited_advance_for_posting_htn.pdf
UNFCCC (2021) Sea Change. Oceans and Coastal Zones unfccc.int/blog/plastic-promise
UN (2022) Fifth Session of the United Nations General Assembly, Nairobi. www.unep.org/environmentassembly/unea5
- Approximately 7 billion of the 9.2 billion tonnes of plastic produced from 1950-2017 became plastic waste, ending up in landfills or dumped.
- Includes the Resolution adopted by the United Nations Environment Assembly on 2 March 2022 (in Nairobi).
- Includes the Marine Litter and Plastic Pollution Toolkit leap.unep.org/knowledge/toolkits/plastic
UNEP (2022) The first session of the INC to develop an international legally binding instrument on plastic pollution, including in the marine environment. Punta del Este, Uruguay www.unep.org/events/conference/inter-governmental-negotiating-committee-meeting-inc-1. Inaugural meeting towards a legally binding instrument.
UNEP (2022) Draft decision on the draft provisional agenda of the second session of the intergovernmental negotiating committee to develop an international legally binding instrument on plastic pollution, including in the marine environment. wedocs.unep.org/bitstream/handle/20.500.11822/41338/ProvisionalAgendaINC2E.pdf
UNFCCC (2022) Plastic Promise? Oceans and Coastal Zones unfccc.int/blog/sea-change-0
OECD (2022) Global Plastics Outlook: economic drivers, environmental impacts and policy options. www.oecd-ilibrary.org/environment/global-plastics-outlook_de747aef-en

3. Science

UNEP (2022) Plastics Science UNEP/PP/INC.1/7 wedocs.unep.org/bitstream/handle/20.500.11822/41263/Plastic_Science_E.pdf
Ford, H.V. et al (2022) The fundamental links between climate change and marine plastic pollution. Science of the Total Environment . 806 (1) doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.150392

4. Impact

Zheng, J. & Suh, S. (2019) Strategies to reduce the global carbon footprint of plastics. Nat. Clim. Change. 9, 374-378 doi.org/10.1038/s41558-019-0459-z
Centre for International Environmental Law (CIEL) Fossil Fuels & Plastics www.ciel.org/issue/fossil-fuels-plastic
CIEL (2019) Plastic & Climate : The Hidden Costs of a Plastic Planet www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Plastic-and-Climate-FINAL-2019.pdf
ClientEarth: Plastics: A Carbon Copy of the Climate Crisis www.clientearth.org/latest/latest-updates/stories/plastics-a-carbon-copy-of-the-climate-crisis

“By 2050, the [cumulative] greenhouse gas emissions from plastic could reach over 56 gigatonnes – 10-13 percent of the entire remaining carbon budget”, wrote the Centre for International Environmental Law (CIEL), in their “Plastic and Climate” report of 2019. By 2050, the emissions from the lifecycle of plastics could be equivalent to 615 large coal-fired power stations – 2.8 gigatonnes of CO2 per year

Canada’s National Observer Investigation (2021) www.nationalobserver.com/2021/03/10/canadas-east-coast-researchers-look-plastic-and-new-way-do-science
HuffPost (2014) Plastiglomerate: The New & Horrible Way Humans are Leaving their Mark on the Planet www.huffpost.com/entry/plastiglomerate_n_5496062
OnlyOne (2022) My blood tested positive for plastic and now I want answers – and action. www.only.one/read/my-blood-tested-positive-for-plastic-now-i-want-answers-and-action

5. Fossil Record

The Guardian (2019) After bronze and iron, welcome to the plastic age, say scientists www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/sep/04/plastic-pollution-fossil-record
EarthSky (2019) Plastic pollution has entered fossil record, says study earthsky.org/earth/plastic-pollution-fossil-record
Global CO₂ emissions ourworldindata.org/co2-emissions

6. Recycling and Reuse

Crippa, M., De Wilde, B., Koopmans, R., Leyssens, J., Muncke, J., Ritschkoff A-C., Van Doorsselaer, K., Velis, C. & Wagner, M. (2019) A circular economy for plastics – Insights from research and innovation to inform policy and funding decisions, M. De Smet & M. Linder (Eds.), European Commission, Brussels, Belgium; available at www.hbm4eu.eu/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/2019_RI_Report_A-circular-economy-for-plastics.pdf
BBC (2018) Why Plastic Waste Recycling is So Difficult; www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-45496884
Race to Zero (2022) 2030 Breakthrough Agenda [COP27] www.racetozero.unfccc.int/system/breakthroughs

7. Recycling specific plastics:

Fluoropolymers www.chemanager-online.com/en/topics/chemicals-distribution/new-process-recycling-fluoropolymers
Polystyrene: www.businesswaste.co.uk/plastic-recycling/is-polystyrene-recyclable
Epoxy / silicon resins coolmag.net/recycling-epoxy-silicon-resins
EEA (2020) Biodegradable and compostable plastics — challenges and opportunities; www.eea.europa.eu/publications/biodegradable-and-compostable-plastics

8. Waste and Pollution (including marine pollution)

Greenpeace (2019) Ghost Gear: the abandoned fishing nets haunting our oceans www.greenpeace.de/sites/default/files/publications/20190611-greenpeace-report-ghost-fishing-ghost-gear-deutsch.pdf
UNEP Our Planet is Choking on Plastic: www.unep.org/interactives/beat-plastic-pollution
UNEP (2021) Drowning in Plastics Marine Litter & Plastic Waste: wedocs.unep.org/bitstream/handle/20.500.11822/36989/VITGRAPH_ES.pdf
Petten, L. et al. (2020) Marine Plastic Pollution. Deloitte; www2.deloitte.com/uk/en/insights/topics/strategy/marine-plastic-pollution.html
The Ocean Cleanup : the price tag of plastic pollution; theoceancleanup.com/the-price-tag-of-plastic-pollution
Minderoo Foundation Sea The Future www.minderoo.org/no-plastic-waste
Plastic pollution (UK) www.greenpeace.org.uk/challenges/plastic-pollution
Marine Litter : AWI Litterbase litterbase.awi.de
UN Environment Programme www.unep.org/interactives/beat-plastic-pollution
Statista (2021) Plastic waste in the UK www.statista.com/topics/4918/plastic-waste-in-the-united-kingdom-uk and plastic waste in Europe www.statista.com/topics/5141/plastic-waste-in-europe.

9. Technology will save us (maybe)

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