A City-Wide Emissions Inventory of Plastic Pollution

Details

• Journal Title:
  Environmental Science & Technology
• Personal Author:
  Zhu, X. ; Hoffman, M.J. ; Rochman, C.M.
• NOAA Program & Office:
  NOS (National Ocean Service) ; ORR (Office of Response and Restoration)
• Description:
  A global agreement on plastic should have quantitative reduction targets for the emissions of plastic pollution and regular measurements to track success. Here, we present a framework for measuring plastic emissions, akin to greenhouse gas emissions, and demonstrate its utility by calculating a baseline measurement for the City of Toronto in Ontario, Canada. We identify relevant sources of plastic pollution in the city, calculate emissions for each source by multiplying activity data by emission factors for each source, and sum the emissions to obtain the total annual emissions of plastic pollution generated. Using Monte Carlo simulations, we estimate that 3,531 to 3,852 tonnes (T) of plastic pollution were emitted from Toronto in 2020. Littering is the largest source overall (3,099 T), and artificial turf is the largest source of microplastic (237 T). Quantifying source emissions can inform the most effective mitigation strategies to achieve reduction targets. We recommend this framework be scaled up and replicated in cities, states, provinces, and countries around the world to inform global reduction targets and measure progress toward reducing plastic pollution.
• Keywords:
  Plastics Pollution Accounting Contamination Emissions Environment Mitigation Plastic Pollution Policy
• Source:
  Environ. Sci. Technol. 2024, 58, 7, 3375–3385
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.3c04348
• Format:
  PDF
• Document Type:
  Journal Article
• Funding:
  Grant no. NA21NOS9990111
• Rights Information:
  Accepted Manuscript
• Rights Statement:
  The NOAA IR provides access to this content under the authority of the government's retained license to distribute publications and data resulting from federal funding. While users may legally access this content, the copyright owners retain rights that govern the reproduction, redistribution, and re-use of this work. The user is solely responsible for complying with applicable copyright law.
• Compliance:
  Submitted
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:4f3c1e3b901ad818f75807ed5c632b37555a825b855d23ea12cb4f2fef217b4dab85ba217b7dfeecf66b645eae9bc312ef6734345086a9ef8db7d027538516d8
• Download URL:
  https://repository.library.noaa.gov/view/noaa/61106/noaa_61106_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.06 MB ]