Plastic Waste: Challenges and Opportunities to Mitigate Pollution and Effective Management

The present world is now facing the challenge of proper management and resource recovery of the enormous amount of plastic waste. Lack of technical skills for managing hazardous waste, insufficient infrastructure development for recycling and recovery, and above all, lack of awareness of the rules and regulations are the key factors behind this massive pile of plastic waste. The severity of plastic pollution exerts an adverse effect on the environment and total ecosystem. In this study, a comprehensive analysis of plastic waste generation, as well as its effect on the human being and ecological system, is discussed in terms of source identification with respect to developed and developing countries. A detailed review of the existing waste to energy and product conversion strategies is presented in this study. Moreover, this study sheds light on sustainable waste management procedures and identifies the key challenges to adopting effective measures to minimise the negative impact of plastic waste. Highlights A comprehensive analysis of global plastic waste generation and its effect on land and marine environment is conducted. Plastic waste management technologies for both land and marine environment are reviewed thoroughly. The modern technologies for waste-to-energy and waste-to-production conversion are discussed in this paper. The potential challenges and a way forward for sustainable management technologies are presented.