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Countermeasures on Plastic and Microplastic Garbage Management

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Microplastics in Terrestrial Environments

Part of the book series: The Handbook of Environmental Chemistry ((HEC,volume 95))

Abstract

In recent years, microplastic (MP), a new environmental pollutant, has got widespread attention around the world, and the discussions for (micro)plastic management have been increasing. In this chapter, the laws and actions concerning (micro)plastics management at international, regional, and national levels were presented. The possibility of alternatives for (micro)plastics was analyzed, and it shows that the market promotion of alternatives for single-use plastics is faced with a lot of difficulties, such as the cost of production, the performances of the alternatives, and so on. The alternatives of plastic microbeads, such as core-shell powder and mineral powder, can serve as a practical option to reduce plastic microbeads. Many laws are relative to garbage management in China presently, but there are still no special legislations for plastic garbage management until now. To improve the management for (micro)plastic management in China, some policy proposals are given for Chinese context, including the restrictions to add or sale MPs in personal cosmetic and care products (PCCPs), reduction of other sources of MPs such as textile and tire dust, principle of extended producer responsibility, standardization of the analytical methods of microplastic, reduction of marine litters via international and regional cooperation, establishment of public involvement mechanism, and so on.

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Acknowledgments

Authors acknowledge the support received from the project Study on the Source Control and Management Technologies for Microplastics (2016YFC1402206) via the China National Key R&D Program hosted by the Ministry of Science and Technology of China.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Water Environment Research, Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences, Beijing, China

    Yixiang Deng, Chenlin Hao & Lihui An

  2. WEEE Research Centre of Shanghai Polytechnic University, Shanghai, China

    Jiaxu Zhang & Chenglong Zhang

  3. Shanghai Pinghe Bilingual School, Shanghai, China

    Zeya Ding

Authors
  1. Yixiang Deng
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  2. Jiaxu Zhang
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  3. Chenglong Zhang
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  4. Zeya Ding
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  5. Chenlin Hao
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  6. Lihui An
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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Yixiang Deng or Jiaxu Zhang .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. School of Ecological and Environmental Sciences, East China Normal University, Shanghai, China

    Defu He

  2. Institute of Soil Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, China

    Yongming Luo

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Deng, Y., Zhang, J., Zhang, C., Ding, Z., Hao, C., An, L. (2020). Countermeasures on Plastic and Microplastic Garbage Management. In: He, D., Luo, Y. (eds) Microplastics in Terrestrial Environments. The Handbook of Environmental Chemistry, vol 95. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/698_2020_463

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