Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item:
http://bura.brunel.ac.uk/handle/2438/23126
Full metadata record
DC Field | Value | Language |
---|---|---|
dc.contributor.author | Harrison, JP | - |
dc.contributor.author | Boardman, C | - |
dc.contributor.author | O’Callaghan, K | - |
dc.contributor.author | Delort, A-M | - |
dc.contributor.author | Song, J | - |
dc.date.accessioned | 2021-08-29T14:43:39Z | - |
dc.date.available | 2018-05-23 | - |
dc.date.available | 2021-08-29T14:43:39Z | - |
dc.date.issued | 2018-04-20 | - |
dc.identifier | 171792 | - |
dc.identifier.citation | Harrison, J.P., Boardman, C., O’Callaghan, K., Delort, A.-M. and Song, J. (2018) 'Biodegradability standards for carrier bags and plastic films in aquatic environments: A critical review', Royal Society Open Science, 5 (5), pp. 1 - 18 (18). doi: 10.1098/rsos.171792. | en_US |
dc.identifier.uri | https://bura.brunel.ac.uk/handle/2438/23126 | - |
dc.description.abstract | © 2018 The Authors. Plastic litter is encountered in aquatic ecosystems across the globe, including polar environments and the deep sea. To mitigate the adverse societal and ecological impacts of this waste, there has been debate on whether ‘biodegradable' materials should be granted exemptions from plastic bag bans and levies. However, great care must be exercised when attempting to define this term, due to the broad and complex range of physical and chemical conditions encountered within natural ecosystems. Here, we review existing international industry standards and regional test methods for evaluating the biodegradability of plastics within aquatic environments (wastewater, unmanaged freshwater and marine habitats). We argue that current standards and test methods are insufficient in their ability to realistically predict the biodegradability of carrier bags in these environments, due to several shortcomings in experimental procedures and a paucity of information in the scientific literature. Moreover, existing biodegradability standards and test methods for aquatic environments do not involve toxicity testing or account for the potentially adverse ecological impacts of carrier bags, plastic additives, polymer degradation products or small (microscopic) plastic particles that can arise via fragmentation. Successfully addressing these knowledge gaps is a key requirement for developing new biodegradability standard(s) for lightweight carrier bags. | en_US |
dc.description.sponsorship | This article is partially based on a Technical Advisory Group report commissioned by the UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (summary document delivered to the UK Parliament in December 2015 see: Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra). 2015 Review of standards for biodegradable plastic carrier bags. See http://www.gov.uk/government/publications/carrier-bags-review-of-standards-for-biodegradable-plastic-bags). | en_US |
dc.format.extent | 1 - 18 (18) | - |
dc.format.medium | Electronic | - |
dc.language.iso | en | en_US |
dc.publisher | The Royal Society | en_US |
dc.rights | © 2018 The Authors. Published by the Royal Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/, which permits unrestricted use, provided the original author and source are credited. | - |
dc.rights.uri | https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ | - |
dc.subject | carrier bags | en_US |
dc.subject | plastics | en_US |
dc.subject | standards | en_US |
dc.subject | biodegradability | en_US |
dc.title | Biodegradability standards for carrier bags and plastic films in aquatic environments: A critical review | en_US |
dc.type | Article | en_US |
dc.identifier.doi | https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.171792 | - |
dc.relation.isPartOf | Royal Society Open Science | - |
pubs.issue | 5 | - |
pubs.publication-status | Published | - |
pubs.volume | 5 | - |
dc.identifier.eissn | 2054-5703 | - |
Appears in Collections: | Wolfson Centre for Sustainable Materials Development and Processing |
Files in This Item:
File | Description | Size | Format | |
---|---|---|---|---|
FullText.pdf | 571.33 kB | Adobe PDF | View/Open |
This item is licensed under a Creative Commons License