Amairani Flores-Díaz , Jineth A. Arango , Diana C. Calvo , Rene Rangel-Mendez , Aura Ontiveros-Valencia
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引用次数: 0
Abstract
Plastic pollution is one of the most threatening environmental and public health problems. In 2023, total plastics production reached 322 million metric tons, from which more than 50% are thrown into the oceans, rivers, or lakes. Plastics are recalcitrant compounds that remain in nature and the built environment for decades due to their durability and stability. Accumulation of plastic has been reported even inside human's body as micro and nanoplastics can enter the food chain. Given the relevance of plastic waste pollution for our society and ecosystems, we analyzed the literature on plastic degradation from 1974 to 2025 and conducted a bibliometric analysis focused on physicochemical and microbial treatments for plastics. Our results showed that plastics' hydrophobicity and crystallinity are the main polymer degradation challenges. Polyethylene and polypropylene are the most researched plastics. Microbial degradation is frequently chosen for plastics degradation, while UV oxidation has been the most used physicochemical treatment. Hybrid plastic degradation treatments must be conducted from a transdisciplinary perspective. In this review, we synthesize the main techniques used to characterize plastics and microbial strains highly studied for plastics degradation. The field of plastic degradation is quickly unfolding and expanding its boundaries.
期刊介绍：
Environmental Development provides a future oriented, pro-active, authoritative source of information and learning for researchers, postgraduate students, policymakers, and managers, and bridges the gap between fundamental research and the application in management and policy practices. It stimulates the exchange and coupling of traditional scientific knowledge on the environment, with the experiential knowledge among decision makers and other stakeholders and also connects natural sciences and social and behavioral sciences. Environmental Development includes and promotes scientific work from the non-western world, and also strengthens the collaboration between the developed and developing world. Further it links environmental research to broader issues of economic and social-cultural developments, and is intended to shorten the delays between research and publication, while ensuring thorough peer review. Environmental Development also creates a forum for transnational communication, discussion and global action.
Environmental Development is open to a broad range of disciplines and authors. The journal welcomes, in particular, contributions from a younger generation of researchers, and papers expanding the frontiers of environmental sciences, pointing at new directions and innovative answers.
All submissions to Environmental Development are reviewed using the general criteria of quality, originality, precision, importance of topic and insights, clarity of exposition, which are in keeping with the journal''s aims and scope.
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