Plastics and the Environment—Current Status and Challenges in Germany and Australia

Frederik R. Wurm*, Sebastian Spierling, Hans Josef Endres, Leonie Barner

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

30 Citations (Scopus)
1464 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Polymers and plastics play a very important part in the modern world and contribute to people's wellbeing and comfort. However, products made of them are contributing to land- and marine-based environmental pollution due to littering and other ways of emission, and therefore threaten ecosystems worldwide. However, waste management and responses by governments and the consumer differ strongly from country to country. The current article provides an overview of several important aspects of polymer waste and plastic pollution as well as describes selected strategies to mitigate these using examples from Germany and Australia, and therefore aims to contribute to the resolution of the ever-increasing problem of unsustainable plastic consumption, disposal, and pollution.

Original languageEnglish
Article number2000351
JournalMacromolecular rapid communications
Volume41
Issue number18
Early online date6 Sept 2020
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Sept 2020

Keywords

  • environment
  • plastics
  • polymers
  • UN sustainable development goals
  • wastes
  • 22/2 OA procedure

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