Environmental Economics and Policy Studies - Call for Papers on "Challenges and Prospects in Managing Plastic Waste"

Overview

According to a 2022-OECD-report, the amount of plastic waste produced globally is on track to almost triple by 2060, with around half ending up in landfill and less than a fifth recycled, if current trends continue. The increasing amount of plastic waste seriously threatens the environment, including pollution and marine littering. While the governments of many countries have implemented various policies to reduce plastic waste and promote recycling, it is not yet clear how these policies have impacted the economy, society, and the environment.

Reducing plastic waste is a building block for a circular economy, although there might be various steps toward the transformation. The generation of waste plastics per capita and the recycling rates differs among countries. An explanation could be that definitions are different. For example, energy recovery is distinguished from recycling by definitions in European countries but is included in recycling in Japan. Among the countries known to control the use of plastics, the UK is leading the way as they phase out most single-use plastics.

Substantial amount of materially recycled plastics is not used in the domestic production of new plastic products and is exported to other countries. It is well-known that exported plastic waste is not always managed properly, which causes pollution in destination regions such as Southeast Asian countries. The export volume of recycled plastics has increased substantially since the early 2000s but suddenly dropped because of China’s import ban in 2018. From 2021, the export of EU plastic waste is only allowed under strict conditions, and the export of unsorted plastic waste to non-OECD countries is completely banned.

Economic incentives and innovation play significant factors in designing a policy for plastic waste management. In most countries, mechanical recycling in combination with source separation is advocated, although plans for a greater role for chemical recycling of plastic waste circulate. Establishing a well-functioning source separation is, however, a significant challenge in providing convenience, knowledge, and motivation for people to participate. These challenges in source separation have brought some countries to put more emphasis on the advanced mechanical sorting of residual household waste. Furthermore, a more comprehensive examination of the energy usage of chemical recycling of plastic waste is also lacking.

This special issue aims to collect and publish research that advances understanding of the economics and policy studies on plastic waste management. We invite authors to submit papers covering these topical issues related to the challenges and prospects of reducing and recycling plastic waste. Authors will be expected to publish in Environmental Economics and Policy Studies subject to the editorial review process.

Topics

We cordially invite academics, practitioners, and policymakers to submit papers discussing and answering the following topics, but not limited to:

• Is it possible to phase out most single-use plastics? What are the effects of banning free plastic bags? 
• Is it possible to move to reuse systems? And how important is design for future recycling? For example, all beverage companies operating in Japan have voluntarily used only clear PET since 2001, and South Korea banned colored PET in 2020. 
• How can advanced mechanical sorting of residual household waste improve the recycling rates of plastic packaging? 
• How important are economic incentives and nudges? What are the effects of a deposit-return system for beverage bottles? 
• Evaluating the effectiveness of the extended producer responsibility involving differentiated fees based on packaging design. 
• Cost-effectiveness analysis of chemical recycling vs. mechanical recycling of plastic waste.
• What is the role of plastic management in realizing a circular economy?
• How does the effort to reduce plastics relate to the net-zero targets by 2050?

Submission

Papers must be submitted to the journal’s submission system (this opens in a new tab). Please select “Yes” for the question “Does this manuscript belong to a special feature?” and then select the special feature “S.I. : Challenges and Prospects in Managing Plastic Waste”.

Submission Deadline

April June 1, 2024

Publication Date

Accepted papers will be made available online on the Springer website shortly after acceptance. The publication date of the printed version will be determined when the Special Issue is finalized.

Guest Editors

Kenji Takeuchi, Ph.D.
Graduate School of Global Environmental Studies
Kyoto University, Japan
Email: takeuchi@econ.kyoto-u.ac.jp

Raymond Gradus, Ph.D.
School of Business and Economics
Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Email: r.h.j.m.gradus@vu.nl