Perpetual Plastics No More: Large-Scale Plastic Waste Mitigation in a Circular Economy

Abstract

This thesis explores the extent of global plastic waste and proposes guidance for policy solutions. Solutions are framed within a Circular Economy transition, which would shift society away from the use-and-dispose model of consumption that is harmful to nature and towards a model in which manufacturing and disposal bring no harm, or even benets, to the environment. The thesis is motivated by two research questions: a) What can the US learn from the anti-plastic policies passed by other countries, in order to design its own eective policies for plastic waste mitigation? and b) Can the benets of single-use plastics be retained while their environmental costs are eliminated, through the expansion of sustainable alternative plastics? Before addressing these questions, this thesis provides an overview of the global plastic waste challenge. The overview discusses the massive scale of single-use plastic production, the aws of plastic recycling systems worldwide and particularly in the US, the impacts of plastic waste on marine ecosystems, and the harms of plastic waste exports from developed to developing countries. Afterwards, the thesis provides an overview of the Circular Economy concept using scholarly literature and a report by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, a pioneer among Circular Economy advocates. In order to answer the research questions, this thesis rst examines policies which other countries have passed to limit the consumption of single-use plastics and mitigate plastic waste. The rst set of countries examined are African countries, whose direct vulnerability to the impacts of plastic waste has led them to pass stringent anti-plastic measures. The thesis analyzes examples of their taxes and bans on single-use plastics, their enforcement mechanisms, and stakeholder responses. Next, the thesis briey considers plastic-related policies enacted by the UK before turning to the EU and analyzing its “Directive on the reduction of the impact of certain plastic products on the environment.” Then, examples of Canadian policies are examined. Lastly, this thesis summarizes the lessons which these international case studies can provide for designing US anti-plastic policies. Highlights from these lessons include: the potential to precede single-use plastic bans with taxes, the importance of educating the public about the need for anti-plastic policies, the value of giving producers transitional periods and ensuring a just transition for plastics industry employees, the signicance of requiring policies to have measurable results in decreasing single-use plastic consumption, and the importance of stopping US plastic waste exports to developing countries. The last section of this thesis is devoted to the overall recommendation of helping alternative (compostable and biodegradable) single-use plastics, as well as industrial composting, expand to the industrial and commercial scale. This section is informed by research into existing examples of alternative plastics developed by rms and laboratories, recommendations from experts in existing community-scale composting programs, and lessons from successful policy-driven growth in the related sector of clean energy. After investigating these existing examples of success, this thesis makes further recommendations of an active role for the federal government and local governments in helping alternative plastics reach a commercial scale. The thesis concludes that replacing conventional single-use plastics with compostable and biodegradable plastics is an achievable goal, but one that must be aided by policies—policies for limiting the consumption of conventional single-use plastics, and for facilitating the expansion of alternative plastics and large-scale composting.