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Plastics can be a carbon sink but only under stringent conditions

Modelling reveals that the carbon emissions associated with plastics could be negative by 2100 under a strict set of technological and socio-economic conditions — including increased recycling and plant-derived production.
  1. Sangwon Suh

    1. Sangwon Suh is in the Bren School of Environmental Science and Management, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, California 93106, USA.

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  2. André Bardow

    1. André Bardow is in the Department of Mechanical and Process Engineering, ETH Zurich, 8092 Zurich, Switzerland.

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The direct effect of plastics on the marine ecosystem has attracted global attention. However, the production and disposal of plastics are also a concern, because these processes release more climate-warming gases annually than does global aviation1. And these emissions are increasing: the growing global appetite for plastics is expected to result in a doubling of their associated carbon emissions by 2050. Such an increase would prevent us from achieving net-zero emissions, a target that is widely held to be necessary to protect the planet’s ability to support life (see go.nature.com/3u7uiqc). Writing in Nature, Stegmann et al.2 provide a road map for avoiding this future by examining the entire life cycle of plastics in the context of various strategies for mitigating climate change.

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Nature 612, 214-215 (2022)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-022-04164-8

References

  1. Zheng, J. & Suh, S. Nature Clim. Change 9, 374–378 (2019).

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  2. Stegmann, P., Daioglou, V., Londo, M., van Vuuren, D. P. & Junginger, M. Nature 612, 272–276 (2022).

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  3. de Oliveira, C. C. N., Zotin, M. Z., Rochedo, P. R. R. & Szklo, A. Biofuels Bioprod. Biorefin. 15, 430–453 (2021).

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  6. Chamas, A. et al. ACS Sustainable Chem. Eng. 8, 3494–3511 (2020).

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  7. Geyer, R., Jambeck, J. R. & Law, K. L. Sci. Adv. 3, e1700782 (2017).

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  8. Stegmann, P., Daioglou, V., Londo, M. & Junginger, M. MethodsX 9, 101666 (2022).

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Competing Interests

We have co-authored a paper together with one of the authors in the past, but do not currently have a professional relationship or any ongoing collaboration with any of the authors.

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