(217b) Global Issues in Plastic Waste: Community Focused Management Approaches

Mismanaged plastic waste is a global environmental crisis, and the problem is particularly acute in economically developing countries and infrastructure lacking regions of the world. Unfortunately, plastic waste management approaches that work in industrialized economies are often inappropriate for developing ones. An implementation of circular economy principles has been put forward as a potentially successful process for reducing or eliminating plastic waste. However, the principles of the circular economy are primarily targeted towards regions with highly developed interconnected infrastructure. Collection, sorting, and transportation infrastructure are needed to facilitate reuse, recycling, and remanufacturing efforts. This infrastructure is often lacking or insufficient in developing economies. Therefore, to affect positive change regarding plastic waste management, approaches that empower local communities to take local control of plastic waste management without requiring sophisticated infrastructure are needed. This presentation will focus on collaborative efforts between university researchers and non-profit organizations to implement projects to assist communities in developing regions take local control of their plastic waste.