Moving from symptom management to upstream plastics prevention: The fallacy of plastic cleanup technology

摘要

Plastic removal technologies can temporarily mitigate plastic accumulation at local scales, but evidence-based criteria are needed in policies to ensure that they are feasible and that ecological benefits outweigh the costs. To reduce plastic pollution efficiently and economically, policy should prioritize regulating and reducing upstream production rather than downstream pollution cleanup. Plastic removal technologies can temporarily mitigate plastic accumulation at local scales, but evidence-based criteria are needed in policies to ensure that they are feasible and that ecological benefits outweigh the costs. To reduce plastic pollution efficiently and economically, policy should prioritize regulating and reducing upstream production rather than downstream pollution cleanup. Plastic pollution accumulates in all environments, from the highest mountains to the deepest oceans.1Tekman M.B. Walther B.A. Peter C. Gutow L. Bergmann M. Impacts of Plastic Pollution in the Oceans on Marine Species, Biodiversity and Ecosystems.2022https://zenodo.org/record/5898684#.YjRGUzUxl6XGoogle Scholar Production is projected to triple by 2060, with plastic pollution increasing correspondingly under business-as-usual scenarios.1Tekman M.B. Walther B.A. Peter C. Gutow L. Bergmann M. Impacts of Plastic Pollution in the Oceans on Marine Species, Biodiversity and Ecosystems.2022https://zenodo.org/record/5898684#.YjRGUzUxl6XGoogle Scholar Plastics and other chemical pollutants are already outside the safe operating space for humanity, threatening critical Earth system processes related to climate and biodiversity, causing adverse impacts on human health, organisms, ecosystems, and biogeochemical cycles.2Persson L. Carney Almroth B.M. Collins C.D. Cornell S. de Wit C.A. Diamond M.L. Fantke P. Hassellöv M. MacLeod M. Ryberg M.W. et al.Outside the Safe Operating Space of the Planetary Boundary for Novel Entities.Environ. Sci. Technol. 2022; 56: 1510-1521https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.1c04158Crossref PubMed Scopus (340) Google Scholar In response, the UN Environment Assembly adopted a resolution (UNEP/EA.5/Res.14) to develop a Plastics Treaty by 2024. As the treaty negotiations progress, stakeholders debate how to prioritize different solutions including the prevention, reduction, management, and removal of plastics. From a scientific perspective, measures to reduce the production and consumption of virgin plastics are key to minimizing global pollution efficiently and economically,3Lau W.W.Y. Shiran Y. Bailey R.M. Cook E. Stuchtey M.R. Koskella J. Velis C.A. Godfrey L. Boucher J. Murphy M.B. et al.Evaluating scenarios toward zero plastic pollution.Science. 2020; 369: 1455-1461https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aba9475Crossref PubMed Google Scholar yet scenario studies show that even if all available measures are implemented, the growth in plastics production will be too high to prevent further pollution entirely.3Lau W.W.Y. Shiran Y. Bailey R.M. Cook E. Stuchtey M.R. Koskella J. Velis C.A. Godfrey L. Boucher J. Murphy M.B. et al.Evaluating scenarios toward zero plastic pollution.Science. 2020; 369: 1455-1461https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aba9475Crossref PubMed Google Scholar Plastic removal technologies (PRTs), often framed as “cleanups,” have been developed to mitigate pollution.4Bellou N. Gambardella C. Karantzalos K. Monteiro J.G. Canning-Clode J. Kemna S. Arrieta-Giron C.A. Lemmen C. Global assessment of innovative solutions to tackle marine litter.Nat. Sustain. 2021; 4: 516-524https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-021-00726-2Crossref Scopus (29) Google Scholar,5Falk-Andersson J. Larsen Haarr M. Havas V. Basic principles for development and implementation of plastic clean-up technologies: What can we learn from fisheries management?.Sci. Total Environ. 2020; 745141117https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.141117Crossref PubMed Scopus (16) Google Scholar However, PRTs are associated with various concerns related to their technological challenges, environment