Fortschritte im Recycling und Abfallmanagement

Plastic Waste Reduction through Standards

Abstract

Jim Park*

Standards are one way to address the issues caused by plastic pollution. Standards can help to drive the transition to a circular economy for plastic resources by addressing quality and safety as well as information and measurement, reducing variety and increasing compatibility. The goal of this work was to categorise existing plastic standards within a circular economy framework, identify potential gaps, and highlight areas for future standards development. 95 plastic standards were identified using desktop research on existing standards, only 9 of which are Australian standards. The majority of the standards address recycling as well as compostable or biodegradable plastics. There are numerous opportunities to create standards for higher levels of the plastics waste hierarchy, such as design and reuse.