Trends in Analytical Chemistry 160 (2023) 116984

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Trends in Analytical Chemistry

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/trac

Current trends of unsustainable plastic production and micro(nano)

plastic pollution
Tony R. Walker*, Lexi Fequet
School for Resource and Environmental Studies, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Canada

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Unsustainable plastic production, use and mismanagement has resulted in increased global plastic
Received 5 January 2023 pollution and subsequent degradation into micro(nano)plastics in the environment threatening sus-
Received in revised form tainability. Micro(nano)plastic pollution is pervasive and has caused widespread ecological impacts
6 February 2023
globally, including greenhouse gas emissions, contributing to climate change. Although downstream
Accepted 10 February 2023
strategies to curb plastic pollution exist, they are ineffective in the face of current plastic production and
Available online 13 February 2023
waste generation which is still outpacing existing regulations. Thus, the international community has
recognized a more holistic approach is required to reduce plastic and micro(nano)plastic pollution. This
Keywords:
Plastic pollution
critical review highlights studies showing that unsustainable global plastic production has resulted in
Microplastics increasing micro(nano)plastic pollution in all environmental compartments, yet few studies have
Nanoplastics documented successful micro(nano)plastic pollution prevention or removal techniques. This critical re-
Micro(nano)plastics view offers constructive criticism into some strategies to help advance ambitious global plastic and
Sustainability micro(nano)plastic pollution reduction targets for a transition towards a sustainable global plastics
future.
© 2023 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY license
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

1. Introduction Due to low degradation combined with unsustainable produc-

tion, use, and disposal, plastic pollution has become a severe
Plastic consumer products, particularly single-use plastics are transboundary threat to natural ecosystems, human health and
ubiquitous, yet current production and use are unsustainable [1e5]. sustainability [10,11]. A growing body of evidence suggests that the
Plastic production has grown 20-fold in the past 50 years and presence of plastics in agricultural soils and in aquatic biota poses
globally, an estimated 9200 million metric tons (Mt) of plastic has potential risks to human health via ingestion in food consumed by
been produced and more than 6900 Mt has been landfilled, or humans [12e15]. It is now undeniable that plastic over production
worse, contribute to environmental pollution [6,7]. In 2019, global and waste generation has resulted in a global plastic pollution
plastic production reached 368 million metric tons (Mt) [8] but is crisis. Whilst some researchers have argued that tackling plastic
predicted to double within 20 years [9]. Most consumer plastics are pollution is a distraction from other global environmental threats
designed for single-use, with limited recyclability, which has (biodiversity loss and/or climate change) [16], these unsubstanti-
resulted in increased global production and consumption leading to ated arguments have been rebutted [17,18], as studies have now
unprecedented plastic waste generation and widespread plastic demonstrated unequivocally that the entire plastic life cycle con-
pollution [1,3]. Approximately 9% of plastic waste globally has ever tributes to climate change, biodiversity loss and is outside the safe
been recycled, 12% incinerated, with the remaining 79% has accu- operating space of the planetary boundaries [19,20]. Thus, plastic
mulated in natural ecosystems [6]. Borrelle et al. [1] estimated that mismanagement threatens the ability of the global community to
19e23 Mt of plastic waste generated globally in 2016 entered sustainably manage plastic production, plastic waste and plastic
aquatic ecosystems but is predicted to reach up to 53 Mt annually pollution [2,21].
by 2030. Once in the environment, plastics, macroplastics (>25 mm)
continuously degrade into plastic fragments (mesoplastics,
>5 mme25 mm) or smaller particles called microplastics (<5 mm)
or nanoplastics (<1 mm or 1000 nm), although definitions between
* Corresponding author. microplastic and nanoplastic size classifications have been debated
E-mail address: [email protected] (T.R. Walker).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trac.2023.116984
0165-9936/© 2023 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
T.R. Walker and L. Fequet Trends in Analytical Chemistry 160 (2023) 116984

in the literature [22]. There have been a plethora of studies doc- Most studies discussing topic keywords of sustainability or
umenting the extent and magnitude of macroplastic pollution, and sustainable were related to plastics (n ¼ 13,795), with most of these
more recently, a growing number of studies examining the harmful studies appearing as regular articles in journals such as Journal of
effects of microplastic and nanoplastic pollution on the environ- Cleaner Production (n ¼ 341), Polymers (n ¼ 236) or Materials
ment, biota and humans [15,23]. However few studies have dis- (n ¼ 111) (see Supplementary materials). The number and type of
cussed the relationship between micro (nano)plastic pollution and articles returned for plastic pollution and sustainability or sus-
sustainability [2,21]. This critical review highlights how unsus- tainable were articles (n ¼ 8033), conference papers (n ¼ 3099),
tainable global plastic production, use and mismanagement has reviews (n ¼ 1413), book chapters (n ¼ 687), conference reviews
resulted in increasing micro (nano)plastic pollution in all envi- (n ¼ 193), books (n ¼ 122), notes (n ¼ 85), short surveys (n ¼ 69),
ronmental compartments. Further, this review offers constructive editorials (n ¼ 52), letters (n ¼ 23), erratums (n ¼ 11), data papers
criticism into some strategies to help advance ambitious global (n ¼ 4) and retracted papers (n ¼ 4). Many of these studies were
plastic and micro (nano)plastic pollution reduction targets for a focused on increasing the recyclability of plastics or developing
transition towards a sustainable global plastics future. biobased or biodegradable plastics [24]. For example, researchers in
Germany recently reported a new type of polyethylene derived
2. Methodology from renewable oils that has greater recyclability by recovering
most of the original polymers to create a closed loop system [25].
A literature search to identify trends in relevant publications However, this has been something that has been the holy grail of
was completed for this critical review. This critical review was sustainable plastics.
descriptive in character and was designed to provide a constructive There were fewer studies related to plastic pollution that also
criticism about the current state of the art involving nanoplastics, discussed the topic keywords of sustainability or sustainable,
microplastics, plastic, plastic pollution, and sustainability for a sub- returned 517 research articles, including review publications. The
set of consulted works to conform with the scope and length of number and type of articles returned for plastic pollution and
papers in Trends in Analytical Chemistry. sustainability or sustainable were articles (n ¼ 302), reviews
Only literature published in English was included in this critical (n ¼ 118), conference papers (n ¼ 36), book chapters (n ¼ 31), notes
review. Potential papers were searched following the TOPIC search (n ¼ 9), editorials (n ¼ 8), letters (n ¼ 6), books (n ¼ 3), erratums
(Title, Abstract and Keyword) in the Scopus database, employing a (n ¼ 2), conference review (n ¼ 1) and short survey (n ¼ 1). Most of
range of terms relating to plastic and sustainability. The aim of this these studies appeared in regular articles such as Science of the Total
high-level scoping literature search was to identify relevant studies Environment (n ¼ 29) and Marine Pollution Bulletin (n ¼ 13) [e.g.,
on nanoplastics, microplastics, plastic, plastic pollution, and 26,27](see Supplementary materials).
sustainability. Fewer studies still were returned that focused on microplastics
The search focused specifically on “sustainable” OR “sustain- (n ¼ 331). The number and type of articles returned for micro-
ability” subject areas and four plastic subject categories (“nano- plastics and sustainability or sustainable were articles (n ¼ 192),
plastic”, “microplastic”, “plastic”, and “plastic pollution”) (see reviews (n ¼ 81), conference papers (n ¼ 35), book chapters (n ¼ 9),
Supplementary materials). For this critical review, peer-reviewed editorials (n ¼ 4), conference reviews (n ¼ 3), notes (n ¼ 3) and
journal articles, books, reports, conference abstracts and papers short survey (n ¼ 2), book (n ¼ 1) and letter (n ¼ 1). Most of these
over the entire database record were included, thus, there was no studies appeared in regular articles such as Science of the Total
defined the time frame. The Scopus database literature search Environment (n ¼ 37), Journal of Hazardous Materials (n ¼ 15) and
covering all years was completed on December 28, 2022, so in- Marine Pollution Bulletin (n ¼ 15) (see Supplementary materials).
cludes most work accepted for publication up to the end of 2022. The total number of articles returned for nanoplastics were
The search included all article types including articles, reviews, much lower than for other subject categories (n ¼ 30). The number
conference papers, book chapters, notes, editorials, letters, books, and type of articles returned for nanoplastics and sustainability or
erratums, conference reviews, retracted papers and short surveys. sustainable were articles (n ¼ 14), reviews (n ¼ 13), book chapter 1
Although there are many papers or documents published that (n ¼ 1), editorial (n ¼ 1) and note (n ¼ 1). Most of these studies
have included sustainability issues related to plastic pollution or appeared in regular articles such as Environmental Research (n ¼ 4),
plastics, that would be relevant to this discussion, for the purposes Chemosphere (n ¼ 3) and Science of the Total Environment (n ¼ 3).
of this critical review only a limited number of papers primarily This is not surprising as this trend mirrors other studies that have
focused on nanoplastics, microplastics, and sustainability were reported recent increasing trends in nanoplastic and microplastic
included. Acknowledging this as a potential limitation, future studies compared to the vast number of studies that have already
research could be expanded to include a systematic review or been published on plastics or plastic pollution [23](see Supple-
meta-analysis by exampling all studies listed in the Scopus data- mentary materials).
base literature search (see Supplementary materials).
3.2. Recent trends recognizing unsustainable plastic pollution
3. Results and discussion
Plastic pollution threatens global social, environmental, and
3.1. Database search results and publication trends economic sustainability [2]. Many single-use plastic items are
difficult to recycle or can only be recycled a few times before they
The total number of publications or research articles, including become unsustainable plastic waste which is predicted to reach up
review publications, returned during this review are shown in to 53 million metric tons annually by 2030 [1]. Plastic waste gen-
Table S1. There has been a considerable body of work discussing the eration (percentage of total solid waste) has increased from 1% in
direct relationship between “plastic” or “plastic pollution” and 1960 to >10% in 2005 in high-income countries [28]. Although
“sustainability” (n ¼ 13,795 and n ¼ 517 research articles, respec- previous studies have estimated that half the global mismanaged
tively), but far fewer discussing the relationship between “micro- plastic waste is generated by China, Indonesia, the Philippines,
plastics” or “nanoplastics” and “sustainability” (n ¼ 331 and n ¼ 30 Vietnam, and Sri Lanka [7,29], it should be recognized that these
research articles, respectively) (see Supplementary materials countries have, until recently, imported poor quality plastic waste
Table S1). from high-income countries for recycling [30e32]. Imports of poor-
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T.R. Walker and L. Fequet Trends in Analytical Chemistry 160 (2023) 116984

quality plastic (e.g., contaminated plastics, co-mingling of with low governments for the Plastics Treaty to include caps on plastic
values after-market plastics) results in disproportionately higher production, removal of harmful chemicals and to be strict and le-
plastic waste generation per capita, much of which is landfilled, gally binding [40e42]. Other examples include, dramatically
incinerated or leaks into the environment, although recent decreasing plastic consumption, developing circular economies
amendments to the Basel Convention are designed to restrict in- where end-of-life plastics retain value rather than becoming waste
ternational trade in plastic waste to curb plastic pollution [31]. to dramatically increase domestic recycling rates and to adopt zero
Changes in industrial production and end-of-life disposal can be plastic waste strategies by reducing, reusing and recycling single-
the best forms of mitigating impacts plastics and micro (nano) use plastics [21,35,43].
plastics on the environment. Industry transitions to circular econ- Even before the Plastics Treaty negotiations began, multilevel
omies through resource efficiency and help ameliorate the issue of mitigation strategies have been proposed, in response to the
plastics ending up in landfills or being incinerated. The circular growing global plastic pollution problem [10]. With global plastic
economy approach can prevent plastic from negatively impacting production and plastic pollution continuing to increase, so does the
the environment by reusing and recycling materials [33]. Plastic number of national and international commitments to reduce
producers should consider end-of-life options when designing plastic pollution [3]. National governments are implementing bans
products and materials that may pose problems for recycling or or levies on single-use plastics [38,44e47], combined with strong
reusing products in the future [34]. consumer and industry support [4]. At the international level, the
Increasing waste management as a singular measure cannot United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA) has made com-
challenge the predicted growth of plastic production and waste mitments to reduce plastic pollution under the Plastics Treaty [41].
generation [1]. Increasing recycling and reuse of plastic products Also at the international level, marine plastics are being addressed
will not solve the issue of plastic pollution. Still, it can be a reme- by the UN and by individual countries at national, sub-national and
diation measure to transition from linear to circular models. The supra-national, including at regional levels [21,48]. At the global
waste hierarchy can provide a pathway for dealing with mis- level, the issue of marine plastics has been recognized in the UN
managed plastic waste. The waste hierarchy comprises five steps: Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) under Goal 14 to reduce the
prevention, reuse, recycling, recovery, and disposal [35]. Based on density of floating plastic debris which has been recognized by the
this waste hierarchy reducing the quantity of plastic produced is international community as being essential for sustainable ocean
better than the effort to reuse and recycle plastic materials at the use [2]. However, there are currently no specific targets to reduce
end of their primary use. plastics or indicators to measure plastic reduction for all other SDGs
Most plastic sent to recycling facilities from the household which presents immense challenges for the international com-
collection is downcycled, meaning that once the material has been munity to implement the SDGs due to the transboundary and
sorted and produced into another product, it is of lower quality pervasive nature of plastic pollution impacting all three pillars of
than the original material [36]. Plastic waste is mainly conducted sustainability (environment, society and the economy) [21,49,50].
through mechanical recycling, which is the collection, sorting, To achieve a global plastic pollution strategy and a sustainable
shredding and melting down of plastics into pellets to be resold as global plastics future, unprecedented solutions, approaches, and
recycled plastic products [37]. Since plastics are comprised of mitigation strategies must be widely adopted and implemented
complex polymers and chemicals, sorting and collecting plastic urgently [1,3]. However, despite these national and international
products can be difficult to melt down into one large group of commitments widespread plastic pollution continues to threaten
plastics as many different chemical additives can react throughout the ability of the international community to sustainably manage
this process. The quality of recycled plastic can be low, reducing the full plastics life cycle [21,50].
chances of the recycled plastic product being sold to manufacturers
to resell as a recycled plastic product. Increased waste management 3.3. Recent trends recognizing unsustainable micro(nano)plastic
may marginally lower the quantity of plastics lost at the end-of-life pollution
disposal phase, but it will not be a solution to solve global plastic
pollution. Micro (nano)plastic pollution is invisible to the naked eye and
In some low-income countries where safe drinking water is like climate change, has largely been ingnored by scientific, public,
unavailable the unsustainable use of single-use plastic sachets or and policy makers until relatively recently due to the lack of direct
bottled water for drinking has resulted in unprecedented amounts personal impact or visibility [23]. Highly visible macroplastics such
of plastic pollution [38]. Unsustainable importation of plastics to as single-use plastics (e.g., plastic bottles, bags and packaging) or
countries with inadequate waste management systems chokes plastic fragments (mesoplastics) have garnered most public, policy
critical urban infrastructure, resulting in widespread and unsus- and research interest [51]. Effects of microplastics on marine spe-
tainable economic and environmental impacts from plastic pollu- cies in the early 2000s started the trend of increasing scientific
tion [38]. For example, plastic waste and pollution costs up to research interest in tiny microplastics [23]. In response to increased
US$2.5 trillion per year based on reduced ecosystem services [39]. interest on microplastics in the environment, researcher began to
Increasing global plastic waste generation has also resulted consider the potential impacts to human health. Thus, research
increased public awareness about the negative impacts environ- focus shifted to smaller particles including nanoplastics [52]. As
mental of plastic pollution [4]. As most consumer plastics (98e99%) collection and analysis of smaller particles became possible, the
are derived from fossil fuels, plastics account for 6% of global oil quantification of micro (nano)plastics in a plethora of environ-
consumption contributing to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and mental media rapidly increased [13,23,53].
are inextricably linked with every step of the plastic life cycle from Sustainability of global food, drinking water and sanitations
production to disposal [18,19]. Thus, to ensure sustainable plastic systems depends on soil, ocean, and aquatic ecosystem health, yet
consumption and to reduce plastic waste and subsequent plastic there is growing body of evidence of micro (nano)plastic accumu-
pollution, extraordinary efforts are required by the international lation in agricultural soils [54], fruits and vegetables [55], drinking
community. water [56] and seafood [12e14]. There is now a growing body of
The ongoing Plastics Treaty negotiations is an example of an recent literature reporting the presence of micro (nano)plastics in
extraordinary effort by the international community [27]. Although drinking water and treated wastewater effluent [56,57]. The World
still under negotiation, there have been calls by scientists and Health Organization (WHO) has recognized the presence and
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T.R. Walker and L. Fequet Trends in Analytical Chemistry 160 (2023) 116984

potential hazards of microplastics in municipal and bottled drink- microplastics for certain products, such as facial scrubs and tooth-
ing water [2]. However, the presence of (micro)plastics in drinking paste. Similarly, in the US, the Microbead-Free Waters Act of 2015
water from treatment plants varies widely from undetectable to phased out microbeads in rinse-off cosmetics in July 2017 [44,45].
>900 particles/L and largely depends on water sources, plant Measures to address secondary microplastic or nanoplastic
design, and methods used for analysis [57]. Although wastewater pollution derived from degraded macroplastics exist, but they often
treatment plants have relatively efficient removal rates of 90e99%, focus on capture techniques and are only effective for larger
they are also point sources for releasing micro (nano)plastics into microplastics [60]. For smaller microplastics and nanoplastics,
the environment [2,21,57]. Micro (nano)plastics are released both current sampling, analytical or removal technologies are lacking or
directly in aquatic ecosystems via effluent release and indirectly to are still under development. For example, the WHO revised safety
agricultural soils via biosolids amendment application. Thus, these guidelines for the presence of microplastics in drinking water [63].
sources of micro (nano)plastics pollution still poses serious chal- The California State Water Board adopted a method for testing
lenges to implementing sustainable management of water and drinking water for microplastics and established a policy handbook
sanitation [2]. The presence of micro (nano)plastic in drinking on a standard method for four years of testing and reporting
water, agricultural soils and aquatic biota poses potential risks to microplastics in drinking water [64,65]. This new standard method
human and ecological health and threatens global sustainability. is the only of its kind in the world and it includes flexibility for
Micro (nano)plastics have now become so ubiquitous in the adaptation to further science or technology that may be developed
global environment [2,15,23], that they have been detected in in the future [64]. As research on the sampling and monitoring of
thousands of species, including humans in placentas and blood microplastics will continue to develop in the future, this guideline
[58,59] or inhaled or consumed via food and drinking water [14,60]. for monitoring microplastics in water should apply best practices.
Due to their ubiquitous and persistent nature and small sizes, the However, there are currently no specific safety guidelines or
health effects and toxicity micro (nano)plastics have recognized as threshold limits for microplastics in drinking water [65]. Thus,
major threats to substantiality and accordingly have attracted further research is required to address this uncertainty and un-
increasing research efforts [15,23]. sustainable impacts of micro (nano)plastics.
Micro (nano)plastics studies in laboratories have mostly focused Implementing more robust regulatory measures could be the
on aquatic species and have shown accumulation of micro (nano) most viable option for reducing the amount of plastic generated
plastics in organs and tissues, causing impaired development, and subsequent plastic and micro (nano)plastic pollution. As seen
oxidative stress, inflammation, neurotoxicity, and intestinal injuries through Canadian legislation, the prevention of primary micro-
[15]. However, empirical data on the ecological and human health plastics (i.e., microbeads) at their source is essentially turning off
impacts of micro (nano)plastics are still relatively lacking and few the tap to reduce plastic from entering the environment. “Turning
published studies have directly quantified the effects of micro off the tap” or capping plastic production has been called for by
(nano)plastics on humans [15]. Although, current concentrations of many [41]. While plastic materials are still essential for many in-
micro (nano)plastics in the environment may be low compared to dustries and applications, it is important to reduce overall plastic
laboratory toxicological studies, their increasing inputs are unsus- consumption. The transition to renewable products will require
tainable based on current and projected plastic production data [1]. transformative behaviour changes for industry, governments, and
Unlike larger macroplastics (which are addressed under UN SDG consumers.
14), there are currently no specific targets or indicators to measure
micro (nano)plastic pollution in any of the UN SDGs (Fig. 1). 3.4. Sustainable solutions to address both plastic and micro (nano)
With absolutely no consideration of micro (nano)plastics in any plastic pollution
of the 17 UN SDGs, it has become even more critical to evaluate the
ecological and human health impacts of micro (nano)plastics along There is an urgent need to move from reliance on unsustainable
with the threats to environmental, social and economic sustain- fossil fuel-based plastics to sustainable biobased plastic alternatives
ability [2]. This is an astonishing oversight by the global commu- to help contribute to a circular economy [26]. However, although
nity, especially when microplastics and nanoplastics researchers biobased plastics may appear offer a sustainable alternative, they
are building a growing body of evidence of the harmful effects of only account for 2% of plastics, but a cradle-to-grave life cycle
these contaminants to the environment, biota and human. assessment of biobased alternatives is urgently required [26].
Although scientific consensus is in broad agreement on the toxic Although the impacts of fossil fuel-based plastic production and
effects of microplastics and nanoplastics in the environment, there resultant plastic and micro (nano)plastic pollution are indisputable
is a paucity of research related to their impacts on long-term and are currently unsustainable, there needs to be a transition to
sustainability. reduced consumption of biobased alternatives to avoid unintended
Although there are a plethora of reduction strategies (policies environmental consequences [2].
and technologies) to curb larger plastic pollution [44,45,51,61], Recently, researchers in Germany report of a new type of poly-
current strategies to address micro (nano)plastic pollution are ethylene derived from renewable oils that has greater recyclability
scarce and mostly focus on regulatory prohibitions of intentionally by recovering most of the original polymers to create a closed loop
manufactured primary microplastics such as microbeads system [25]. This is something that has been the holy grail of
[44,45,62]. Microbeads are intentionally manufactured plastic ‘sustainable plastics’. To achieve a future with truly sustainable
particles and are most frequently made of polyethylene, poly- plastics and zero plastic waste [3,43], this technology needs to be
propylene and polystyrene. As consumer products, they are scaled up to wean society off a dependence on fossil fuel-based
commonly used in exfoliating personal care products, and tooth- plastics [66]. Recent interest in ‘sustainable plastics’ has resulted
pastes, but are also used in the health care sector [44,45]. Several in a rapid increase in petroleum-based biodegradable plastics,
countries have already banned microbeads from rinse-off cos- which has led to consumers mistaking these products for ‘bio-
metics, including Canada, the US, France, the United Kingdom, In- plastics’, which has resulted in widespread public confusion over
dia, New Zealand, Sweden, and Taiwan [45] (Fig. 2). In Canada, waste disposal [67]. Current plastic production use and disposal
regulatory measures to prevent microplastics at the source include may continue undermine implementation of many of the UN SDGs
the Microbeads in Toiletries Regulations of 2017 SOR/2017e111. The by 2030 without the rapid scaling up of bioplastic alternatives [2].
microbeads ban was a direct measure to stop the production of This also needs to be implemented in parallel with reductions in
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T.R. Walker and L. Fequet Trends in Analytical Chemistry 160 (2023) 116984

Fig. 1. Micro (nano)plastics and the UN SDGs. Red circles indicate that all 17 UN SDGs lack any indicators to address micro (nano)plastic pollution. The UN SDGs icons and colour
wheel are free to re-use as per the UN guidelines (https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/SDG_Guidelines_AUG_2019_Final.pdf). Adapted from
Walker [2].

Fig. 2. Current global microbead policy interventions showing national bans (solid green) (by Delusion 23 - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?
curid¼65416735). Grey circles indicate island nations or overseas territories.

global consumption of fossil fuel-based plastics. toxic chemicals used in plastic production hamper the effectiveness
Although solutions required to reduce plastic and micro (nano) of many of these so called “sustainable” solutions to address use of
plastic pollution are diverse and cannot be properly addressed in plastics and micro (nano)plastics such as: mechanical recycling,
this short critical review, some current and future solutions waste-to-energy, chemical recycling, biobased plastics, biodegrad-
include: extended producer responsibility programs [35]; preven- able plastics, and durable plastics [68].
tion initiatives to reduce single-use plastic use [38,44e47]; and the The global Plastics Treaty agreement will be designed to end
Plastics Treaty which will consider the entire plastics life cycle plastic pollution. The Nordic Council of Ministers [69] argue that it
including curbing production, circular economy and environmental will also need to specifically address microplastics as a distinct
reporting standards, increased consumer awareness and improved category of plastic pollution, warranting specific control measures.
performance measures. For example, the Plastics Treaty should include requirements for
Plastics are complex materials consisting of over 10,000 chem- the reporting on production, composition, and trade of secondary
ical substances such as additives, processing aids, and noninten- microplastics such as plastic pellets, flakes and powders [69]. All
tionally added substances, and many of them are known to be non-essential intentionally added primary microplastics (i.e.,
hazardous to human health and the environment [33,42,68]. Thus, microbeads) should be phased-out with timebound targets,

5
T.R. Walker and L. Fequet Trends in Analytical Chemistry 160 (2023) 116984

compliance, and enforcement measures, and subjected to trade Appendix A. Supplementary data
restrictions on exports and imports [69]. The Plastics Treaty should
also include commitments to develop global plastic product stan- Supplementary data to this article can be found online at
dards or design for end-of-life criteria for problematic sources, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trac.2023.116984.
hotspots and pathways of use-phase secondary microplastics with
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Declaration of competing interest Technol. 56 (3) (2022) 1510e1521.
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The authors declare that they have no known competing services, sustainable development goals, and need to focus on circular econ-
financial interests or personal relationships that could have omy and policy interventions, Sustainability 13 (17) (2021) 9963.
appeared to influence the work reported in this paper. [22] N.B. Hartmann, T. Hüffer, R.C. Thompson, M. Hassello €v, A. Verschoor,
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The authors would like to thank guest editors, Dr. Teresa Rocha- [26] A.L.P. Silva, J.C. Prata, T.R. Walker, D. Campos, A.C. Duarte, A.M. Soares,
T. Rocha-Santos, Rethinking and optimising plastic waste management under
Santos and Dr. Kristian Syberg, for their invitation to submit this COVID-19 pandemic: policy solutions based on redesign and reduction of
paper to the special issue ‘Micro(nano)plastics in the environment’. single-use plastics and personal protective equipment, Sci. Total Environ. 742

6
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