Rural areas are exposed to severe environmental pollution issues fed by industrial and agricultural activities combined with poor waste and sanitation management practices, struggling to achieve the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in line with Agenda 2030. Rural communities are examined through a “dual approach” as both contributors and receivers of plastic pollution leakage into the natural environment (through the air–water–soil–biota nexus). Despite the emerging trend of plastic pollution research, in this paper, we identify few studies investigating rural communities. Therefore, proxy analysis of peer-reviewed literature is required to outline the significant gaps related to plastic pollution and plastic waste management issues in rural regions. This work focuses on key stages such as (i) plastic pollution effects on rural communities, (ii) plastic pollution generated by rural communities, (iii) the development of a rural waste management sector in low- and middle-income countries in line with the SDGs, and (iv) circular economy opportunities to reduce plastic pollution in rural areas. We conclude that rural communities must be involved in both future plastic pollution and circular economy research to help decision makers reduce environmental and public health threats, and to catalyze circular initiatives in rural areas around the world, including less developed communities.
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The composition of widespread electronic devices (mobile phone, computer mouse, keyboard, web-camera, monitor) was studied by manual dismantling. The material flow analysis was conducted for e-waste components. For the case study of Ukraine, five devices under investigation contain over 4 thousand tons / year resources. Most of them (first of all, plastic and metal) can be easily recovered. The content of chemical elements in the components of the electronic devices was determined by X-ray fluorescence analysis. Taking into account the mass of electronic waste generated in Ukraine, the resource potential of metals was estimated. Most of metals are concentrated in mobile phones and monitors (about 2000 tons/year). Apart from common metals, silver, molybdenum, vanadium, rubidium, zirconium, antimony, yttrium, rhodium, bismuth, and gallium were also found.
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