Is the Plastic Pandemic a Greater Threat to Humankind than COVID-19?

Abhimanyu Raj Shekhar; Arvind Kumar; Ravuri Syamsai; Xingke Cai; Vilas G Pol

doi:10.1021/acssuschemeng.1c08468

Is the Plastic Pandemic a Greater Threat to Humankind than COVID-19?

ACS Sustain Chem Eng. 2022 Feb 3;10(10):3150-3154. doi: 10.1021/acssuschemeng.1c08468. eCollection 2022 Mar 14.

Authors

Abhimanyu Raj Shekhar¹, Arvind Kumar², Ravuri Syamsai³, Xingke Cai², Vilas G Pol¹

Affiliations

¹ Davidson School of Chemical Engineering, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana 47907, United States.
² Institute of Advanced Studies and College of Physics and Optoelectronic Engineering, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518060, China.
³ Nanotechnology Research Centre, SRM Institute of Science and Technology, Chennai 603203, India.

PMID: 37552731
DOI: 10.1021/acssuschemeng.1c08468

Abstract

The advent of the COVID-19 pandemic has initiated a radical attention shift of society toward the severe consequences it has had over human health, shadowing a symmetrically, if not more, important issue of the rapid intensification in the amount of plastic waste that has been generated over the due course of time. Such a growth in the plastic footprint across the globe has led to a carbon positive environment with an increased amount of greenhouse gases (GHGs) released due to the processing of the waste plastic. We aim to address and provide our perception to this pressing challenge that can be decoded via the advancement of upcycling technologies, utilized and augmented worldwide. With the establishment of such sustainable policies and strategies, the global plastic footprint can be systematically mitigated, accelerating the world into economic circularity and environmental sustainability.