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The ecological and societal impacts of plastics production, use, and waste are a complex global challenge. Management strategies to mitigate the impacts of plastics, such as recycling, waste-to-energy, and replacement with alternative materials have impacts of their own. Achieving long-term sustainability of plastics use therefore requires considering the externalized impacts of such management strategies. Here, we assessed the literature on the most common plastic waste management strategies to identify their impacts in relation to the Sustainable Development Goals. We reviewed impacts of bans, levies, and taxes; alternative products; recycling; waste-to-energy; plastic recovery; and extended producer responsibility. Our analysis identified a total of 259 measured impacts of plastic waste mitigation strategies, from 113 papers. Ninety-three impacts were negative, 104 were positive, 11 were neutral, and 51 depended on the context of implementation. Consideration of the impacts of both plastic materials and management strategies is necessary to avoid perverse outcomes of plastic pollution mitigation efforts.
In 2018, China enacted an import ban on twenty-four types of recyclables as part of its National Sword policy, upending recycling programs across the U.S. In Arizona, many municipalities have responded by significantly reducing or completely halting their programs, causing some cities to landfill their recyclables. We have reviewed state legislation and interviewed waste management coordinators to identify the key challenges and opportunities for recycling in Arizona. Informed by our interviews, we call on Arizona state legislators to (1) pass a resolution to appropriate funding for the recycling grant program, (2) amend this program to allow for joint applications, (3) repeal A.R.S. 9-500.38, ‘Prohibition on regulation of auxiliary containers; state preemption; definition’, (4) introduce a tax on products imported in single-use containers, and (5) provide incentives to companies using Arizona recyclables. These policies would reinvigorate recycling within the state, make Arizona’s waste management systems more cost-effective, and foster new local processing and manufacturing industries.
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