Plastic waste and its management strategies for environmental sustainability
Open accessAbstract
The massive consumption of a wide range plastic products has generated a huge amount of plastic waste. There is a need to provide awareness of their uses and routine management as a part of our lifestyle. Nowadays, plastics are increasingly being used in our daily life activities, including the packaging in different food and brewing companies, cosmetics, pharmaceutical, and other production sectors need to pack their end products for efficient and safer product's delivery to the community. Plastics are produced through the biochemical process of polymerization or polycondensation. The post-use of generated plastic waste has many adverse impacts on the environment if not processed and managed in a proper way. This review aims to discuss the lifecycle of plastic products according to their different categories, including polyvinyl chloride (PVC–U), polystyrene or styrofoam (PS), polypropylene (PP), high-density polyethylene (HDPE), polyethylene terephthalate (PETE), and others. Herein, we have also discussed the problems caused by the inadequate processing of plastic waste and the possible solutions that can be provided to ensure a good atmosphere and to reduce the causes of climate changes, which is challenging to life on this planet.
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Handling certain types of plastic waste (especially when heated or melted) may release harmful fumes or chemicals, posing health risks to workers.
“Health and safety concerns: The handling of certain types of plastic waste (especially when heated or melted) may release harmful fumes or chemicals, posing health risks to workers involved in the manufacturing process [131].”
From Transforming Plastic Waste into Value: A Review of Management Strategies and Innovative Applications in Sustainable Construction (2025) · cites this paper as [131]
Section 5.1 (Recycling; page unavailable) says that heating plastic to melt it releases gases and fumes that can cause health issues for people passing through the recycling zone. It does not specifically discuss exposure or health risks for workers handling plastic waste in a manufacturing process. (LLM, conf=0.85)
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- Authors
- Evode, N., Qamar, S. A., Bilal, M., Barceló, D., & Iqbal, H. M. N.
- Affiliations
- University of Agriculture Faisalabad (PK)
- Huai'an University (CN)
- Zhejiang A & F University (CN)
- Tecnológico de Monterrey (MX)
- Corresponding author
- Bilal, Muhammad
- Barceló, Damià
- Iqbal, Hafiz M.N.
- Venue
- Case Studies in Chemical and Environmental Engineering
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2021-12
- Volume
- 4
- Pages
- 100142
- ISSN
- 2666-0164 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W3204722255
- Cited by
- 800
- References
- 64
- Citations by year
- 2026: 139 · 2025: 247 · 2024: 215 · 2023: 152 · 2022: 42 · 2021: 4 · 2020: 1
- FWCI
- 25.61
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Case Studies in Chemical and Environmental Engineering (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- DIGITAL.CSIC (Spanish National Research Council (CSIC)) (submittedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Funders
- Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología
- Sistema Nacional de Investigadores (735340)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Pollution › Microplastics and Plastic Pollution
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Waste Management and Disposal › Waste Management and Recycling
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Waste Management and Disposal › Municipal Solid Waste Management
- Keywords
- plastic waste, plastic waste management, environmental sustainability, plastic packaging, polymerization, polyvinyl chloride, polystyrene, polypropylene, high-density polyethylene, polyethylene terephthalate, plastic life cycle, climate change mitigation, waste treatment
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