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Environmental impact assessment

Pathways to sustainable plastics

Our current use of plastics is the epitome of an unsustainable lifestyle with their reliance on fossil resources and their widespread application through single use products that, after use, end up in the natural environment. A study now analyses what it would take for plastics to become a sustainable material.

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Fig. 1: A sustainable future production and use of plastics must respect the planetary boundaries.

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Correspondence to Michael Zwicky Hauschild.

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Hauschild, M.Z., Bjørn, A. Pathways to sustainable plastics. Nat Sustain 6, 487–488 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-023-01069-w

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