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      Resource or waste? A perspective of plastics degradation in soil with a focus on end-of-life options

      review-article
      Heliyon
      Elsevier
      Environmental science, Biogeoscience, Industry, Microbiology, ABS, acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene, BPA, bisphenol A, DOM, dissolved organic matter, EPR, Extended Producers Responsibility, EPS, expandable polystyrene, ETS, European Emissions Trading scheme, GPPS, Polystyrene (General Purpose), HBCD, hexabromocyclododecane, HDPE, high-density polyethylene, HMC, heat melt compactor technology, LCP, liquid crystal polymers, LDPE, low-density polyethylene, NHV, net habitable volume, PA, polyamide, PAC, pro-oxidant additive containing, PBT, polybutylene terephthalate, PC, polycarbonate, PEEK, polyaryletheretherketone, PET, polyethylene terephthalate, PHA, polyhydroxyalkanoate, PLA, polylactic acid, PMMA, polymethyl methacrylate, POM, polyoxymethylene, PP, polypropylene, PPA, polyphthalamide, PPS, polyphenylene sulphide, PS, polystyrene, PSU, polyarylsulfone, PTFE, polytetrafluoroethylene, PU or PUR, polyurethane, PVC, polyvinyl chloride, PVDF, polydifluoroethylene, RIC, resin identification code, TPE, thermoplastic polyester elastomer

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          Abstract

          ‘Capable-of-being-shaped’ synthetic compounds are prevailing today over horn, bone, leather, wood, stone, metal, glass, or ceramic in products that were previously left to natural materials. Plastic is, in fact, economical, simple, adaptable, and waterproof. Also, it is durable and resilient to natural degradation (although microbial species capable of degrading plastics do exist). In becoming a waste, plastic accumulation adversely affects ecosystems. The majority of plastic debris pollutes waters, accumulating in oceans. And, the behaviour and the quantity of plastic, which has become waste, are rather well documented in the water, in fact. This review collects existing information on plastics in the soil, paying particular attention to both their degradation and possible re-uses. The use of plastics in agriculture is also considered. The discussion is organised according to their resin type and the identification codes used in recycling programs. In addition, options for post-consumer plastics are considered. Acknowledged indicators do not exist, and future study they will have to identify viable and shared methods to measure the presence and the degradation of individual polymers in soils.

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          Most cited references166

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          Microplastics in freshwater and terrestrial environments: Evaluating the current understanding to identify the knowledge gaps and future research priorities.

          Plastic debris is an environmentally persistent and complex contaminant of increasing concern. Understanding the sources, abundance and composition of microplastics present in the environment is a huge challenge due to the fact that hundreds of millions of tonnes of plastic material is manufactured for societal use annually, some of which is released to the environment. The majority of microplastics research to date has focussed on the marine environment. Although freshwater and terrestrial environments are recognised as origins and transport pathways of plastics to the oceans, there is still a comparative lack of knowledge about these environmental compartments. It is highly likely that microplastics will accumulate within continental environments, especially in areas of high anthropogenic influence such as agricultural or urban areas. This review critically evaluates the current literature on the presence, behaviour and fate of microplastics in freshwater and terrestrial environments and, where appropriate, also draws on relevant studies from other fields including nanotechnology, agriculture and waste management. Furthermore, we evaluate the relevant biological and chemical information from the substantial body of marine microplastic literature, determining the applicability and comparability of this data to freshwater and terrestrial systems. With the evidence presented, the authors have set out the current state of the knowledge, and identified the key gaps. These include the volume and composition of microplastics entering the environment, behaviour and fate of microplastics under a variety of environmental conditions and how characteristics of microplastics influence their toxicity. Given the technical challenges surrounding microplastics research, it is especially important that future studies develop standardised techniques to allow for comparability of data. The identification of these research needs will help inform the design of future studies, to determine both the extent and potential ecological impacts of microplastic pollution in freshwater and terrestrial environments.
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            Mechanical and chemical recycling of solid plastic waste

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              Biological degradation of plastics: a comprehensive review.

              Lack of degradability and the closing of landfill sites as well as growing water and land pollution problems have led to concern about plastics. With the excessive use of plastics and increasing pressure being placed on capacities available for plastic waste disposal, the need for biodegradable plastics and biodegradation of plastic wastes has assumed increasing importance in the last few years. Awareness of the waste problem and its impact on the environment has awakened new interest in the area of degradable polymers. The interest in environmental issues is growing and there are increasing demands to develop material which do not burden the environment significantly. Biodegradation is necessary for water-soluble or water-immiscible polymers because they eventually enter streams which can neither be recycled nor incinerated. It is important to consider the microbial degradation of natural and synthetic polymers in order to understand what is necessary for biodegradation and the mechanisms involved. This requires understanding of the interactions between materials and microorganisms and the biochemical changes involved. Widespread studies on the biodegradation of plastics have been carried out in order to overcome the environmental problems associated with synthetic plastic waste. This paper reviews the current research on the biodegradation of biodegradable and also the conventional synthetic plastics and also use of various techniques for the analysis of degradation in vitro.
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                Author and article information

                Contributors
                Journal
                Heliyon
                Heliyon
                Heliyon
                Elsevier
                2405-8440
                10 December 2018
                December 2018
                10 December 2018
                : 4
                : 12
                : e00941
                Affiliations
                [1]Università degli Studi di Palermo, Scienze Agrarie, Alimentari e Forestali, Italy
                Author notes
                []Corresponding author. riccardo.scalenghe@ 123456unipa.it
                Article
                S2405-8440(18)30133-6 e00941
                10.1016/j.heliyon.2018.e00941
                6290126
                8a7ffdac-4869-4692-a945-0c153a9e6c48
                © 2018 Published by Elsevier Ltd.

                This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

                History
                : 14 February 2018
                : 9 July 2018
                : 13 November 2018
                Categories
                Article

                environmental science,biogeoscience,industry,microbiology,abs, acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene,bpa, bisphenol a,dom, dissolved organic matter,epr, extended producers responsibility,eps, expandable polystyrene,ets, european emissions trading scheme,gpps, polystyrene (general purpose),hbcd, hexabromocyclododecane,hdpe, high-density polyethylene,hmc, heat melt compactor technology,lcp, liquid crystal polymers,ldpe, low-density polyethylene,nhv, net habitable volume,pa, polyamide,pac, pro-oxidant additive containing,pbt, polybutylene terephthalate,pc, polycarbonate,peek, polyaryletheretherketone,pet, polyethylene terephthalate,pha, polyhydroxyalkanoate,pla, polylactic acid,pmma, polymethyl methacrylate,pom, polyoxymethylene,pp, polypropylene,ppa, polyphthalamide,pps, polyphenylene sulphide,ps, polystyrene,psu, polyarylsulfone,ptfe, polytetrafluoroethylene,pu or pur, polyurethane,pvc, polyvinyl chloride,pvdf, polydifluoroethylene,ric, resin identification code,tpe, thermoplastic polyester elastomer

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