Microbial biodegradation of plastics: Challenges,opportunities, and a critical perspective

● Health hazards of plastic waste on environment are discussed. ● Microbial species involved in biodegradation of plastics are being reviewed. ● Enzymatic biodegradation mechanism of plastics is outlined. ● Analytical techniques to evaluate the plastic biodegradation are presented. The abundance of synthetic polymers has increased due to their uncontrolled utilization and disposal in the environment. The recalcitrant nature of plastics leads to accumulation and saturation in the environment, which is a matter of great concern. An exponential rise has been reported in plastic pollution during the corona pandemic because of PPE kits, gloves, and face masks made up of single-use plastics. The physicochemical methods have been employed to degrade synthetic polymers, but these methods have limited efficiency and cause the release of hazardous metabolites or by-products in the environment. Microbial species, isolated from landfills and dumpsites, have utilized plastics as the sole source of carbon, energy, and biomass production. The involvement of microbial strains in plastic degradation is evident as a substantial amount of mineralization has been observed. However, the complete removal of plastic could not be achieved, but it is still effective compared to the pre-existing traditional methods. Therefore, microbial species and the enzymes involved in plastic waste degradation could be utilized as eco-friendly alternatives. Thus, microbial biodegradation approaches have a profound scope to cope with the plastic waste problem in a cost-effective and environmental-friendly manner. Further, microbial degradation can be optimized and combined with physicochemical methods to achieve substantial results. This review summarizes the different microbial species, their genes, biochemical pathways, and enzymes involved in plastic biodegradation.     

Biosafety principles for GMOs in the context of sustainable development

If genetically modified organisms are to contribute to welfare they must be considered in the context of sustainable development. Biosafety implies considering the environmental, economic and social dimensions of sustainable development. These dimensions can be interpreted through the principles of precaution, polluter pays and public participation. In this article, these key biosafety principles are operationalised and ways of implementing them in society are discussed. A comparison is made between the principles and the present EU law for deliberate release of GMOs. It is concluded that several improvements in EU policy are necessary to ensure sustainable development really is promoted.     

废弃塑料包装物的管理及资源、环境评价

由于塑料包装材料具有明显的资源优势,而获得广泛应用。但塑料材料的原料——石油,目前面临枯竭窘境。同时,塑料包装废弃物的处理存在巨大的环境压力。焚烧包括塑料包装废弃物在内的生活垃圾,用于发电,是日本曾经采取的方法。近年来,因存在难以逾越的生态环境问题,而逐渐废止。工业生态学的材料流的循环利用模式,是解决资源耗尽、废物充斥的理想方法。源头分离是城市固体废弃物资源化的前提条件。按塑料品种分类回收,以材料形式重复利用,保留了塑料的材料价值,还需要解决,再加工过程造成材料力学性能下降的问题。将单一品种塑料转化成单体,不同塑料品种的单体转化率有很大差距,缩合聚合物较高,而PP、PE等则不然。混合塑料的热裂解可获得化工原料和燃料,又达到减少垃圾总量和石油资源循环利用的效果,具有开发潜力。填埋方式占用土地又人为阻碍了有机垃圾回归生物圈。控制性堆肥对避免大量使用化肥、农药造成的生态环境灾难,再建农业生产的可持续性模式,发挥重要作用。生物降解塑料袋对堆肥的实施,具有特殊价值。PET和E-CO在食品包装某些应用领域有优势,而PVC食品包装物的使用和废弃后再利用都存在问题。     

Adapting to new policy environment – past pattern and future trend in us-sino waste plastic trade flow

Plastics are one of the most used materials in human activities, where consumer consumption and industrial production together has imposed vast rise in demand for this material in last century. While plastic is ideally derived from crude oil as a primary source from manufacturers’ perspective, varying crude oil prices are driving manufacturers economically to seek for alternative sources for plastics production. Waste plastic recovered from obsolete consumer products thus becomes an economic substitution for virgin plastics, which is further intensified with the possibility of international waste plastic trading. This study focuses on waste plastic trade between the US and mainland China by performing a correlation analysis of trade data. It is suggested in this study that although waste plastics are traded from the US to mainland China in general, as many of us believes, the route is gradually shifting in the past years. With tightening Chinese customs regulations, waste plastic from the US now tends to take a transit in a third destination (Hong Kong SAR for instance) for preliminary treatment to bypass Chinese customs inspection. Such phenomenon is worth noting, as a complication in waste plastic trading route hinders waste plastic transboundary movement monitoring. Furthermore, it will have adverse consequent consumer, industrial, and environmental impacts. It is thus necessary for national competent authorities to strengthen cooperative study and communication capacity in the future as a response to the changing waste plastic trade pattern.     

Bio-based materials for high-end electronics applications

During the past decade, a shift of focus onto greener alternatives to petroleum-based plastics has spurred the development of bio-based resins for plastic development. This has led to a positive marketing image for companies making the switch to resins from renewable resources. This shift of focus is further reinforced by corporations, which are committed to a reduction in their greenhouse gas emissions and product environmental footprints. Here, we present a perspective on the use of renewable materials in durable goods applications and the challenges and advantages associated with the use of renewable materials. Replacement of petroleum-based acoustic foam with that derived from sustainable resources and qualification of thermoplastic polylactic acid blends for enclosure covers has been demonstrated. The technical details of the materials development required for use in durable goods, and their characterization is also discussed.     

2010年亚运会对广州市可持续发展的影响

2010年举办的第16届亚运会将是广州有史以来承办的最大型的综合性体育赛事。分析了亚运会的举办将对广州市经济、社会发展、城市与环境建设等方面的影响,并提出了全面贯彻可持续发展思想,进一步办好亚运会的建议:立足长远,社会效益与经济效益并重;加大生态环境建设力度;加大宣传力度,推动公众参与;加强区域合作,协调区域发展。     

公共管理与公众参与策略：于桥水库水质改善项目

环境问题是在人类的发展与资源的开发过程中产生的 ,是多种因素综合作用的结果 ,解决任何一个环境问题都将涉及到若干部门和公众 ,决不是一个部门所能完全胜任的。因此 ,采用公共管理与公众参与的模式解决环境问题 ,是改善环境质量的必然途径 ,是一个政府环境管理能力的综合体现。文章阐述了公共管理与公众参与的内涵、目标、目的、基本原则和实施程序等。     

塑料废弃物污染的综合治理研究进展

近年来,随着经济的发展,废旧塑料大幅增加,塑料废弃物所造成污染已经成为了破坏环境的主要因素之一.塑料废弃物污染即所谓的白色污染,主要是由废旧塑料高分子的不可降解性和添加剂的毒害性引起的.文章在对白色污染产生的背景及其污染危害的基础上,讨论了治理白色污染的治理的两个方面,一方面对可降解塑料和对废旧塑料的回收再生两个主要的技术研究开发方向进行了综述和展望,详细介绍了光降解塑料、光-生物双降解塑料和生物降解塑料的研发进展,并对填埋、焚烧和再生三种塑料废弃物的处理方法进行了详细的分析;另一方面就立足循环经济理论,加强政策法规的运用,同时加强宣传教育等方面的问题进行了讨论,并提出了相应的对策.     

国内外农用地膜使用政策、执行标准与回收状况

农用地膜覆盖技术具有良好的增温、保墒、除草等作用,已成为中国农业生产上不可或缺的农艺措施,为作物增产增收和保障中国粮食安全做出了巨大贡献。由于长期重使用、轻回收,随着农用地膜的用量和覆膜年限增加,废旧地膜在土壤中的残留量逐年增多,残膜污染已严重影响农业生产和自然环境,成为影响中国农业可持续发展的突出问题。中国的农用地膜污染防治工作总体起步较晚,虽然取得了一定成效,但还面临着政策不健全,监管有难度,执行不到位,回收、替代技术不成熟等困难和问题,防治任务依然艰巨。文章通过深入分析欧美与日本发达国家农用地膜推广使用方面的相关政策及标准,总结归纳了国内外农用地膜管理和回收经验,为今后制定出台适应中国国情的农用地膜管理政策提供参考。建议:(1)推进全程监管,出台相关法律规章,明确生产、流通、使用等各环节的监管责任,建立全程监管体系,从源头上杜绝脱标地膜进入市场、铺进农田;(2)推进源头减量,开展地膜覆盖技术适宜性评价,强化地膜使用控制,对水热资源条件较好的地区,减少地膜覆盖或不再使用地膜,对资源禀赋较差的地区,提高地膜使用效率,降低使用强度;(3)推进回收利用,推动完善政府扶持、市场主导的农膜回收利用体系,探索农膜回收利用长效机制,推动建立区域性绿色补贴政策;(4)推进技术创新,依托科技平台,加大新产品、新设备的研发力度,加强可降解地膜产品和技术跟踪,制定完善评价标准体系。     

GIS技术在土地利用规划公众参与中应用的研究进展

介绍了G IS技术在土地利用规划中公众参与的发展、概念和研究进展,以及在土地利用规划中应用的一些探讨,提出了我们可以借鉴西方的经验将G IS技术逐步应用于我国的公众参与工作,具体可在确定发展目标和规划方案优选两个阶段应用.     

PICABUE: a methodological framework for the development of indicators of sustainable development

SUMMARY

Significant interest in the concept of sustainable development exists amongst scientists, planners, policy makers and the public, and considerable effort and expenditure is made or envisaged at local, national and international levels to promote a more sustainable society. Until ‘green accounting’ and similar systems are made available and are implemented, the sustainability indicator will be the most effective tool available for monitoring progress towards a more sustainable society. Sustainability indicators are already available but are characterized by a poor or absent theoretical underpinning. This paper addresses this problem by proposing a methodological framework that can be applied to the construction of indicators of sustainable development. In order to be consistent with widely accepted definitions of sustainable development, considerations relating to the measurement of quality of life and ecological integrity are central to the methodology. The methodological framework has relevance to a variety of spatial scales and to geographically diverse areas (urban or rural, developed or developing countries) so that a suite of sustainability indicators can be produced that is tailored to the needs and resources of the indicator user, but which remains rooted firmly in the fundamental principles of sustainable development.     

Theorising pathways to sustainability

Using a Pathways approach, controversies over environmental and natural resource management are viewed as expressions of alternative, or competing, pathways to sustainability. This supports deeper understanding of the underlying causes of natural resource management controversies. The framework is composed of two elements: the STEPS (Social, Technological, and Environmental Pathways to Sustainability) Pathways approach and frame analysis. Many sustainable development dilemmas are played out in specific places and consequently, the Pathways approach is integrated with a place-based frame analysis. The resulting framework guides empirical investigation in place-based contexts. This theorising about sustainability science can be used to cast light on contested natural resource management issues, in this case mining in northern Sweden. By exposing the range of alternative Pathways to critical norms of sustainable development, we ascertain whether action alternatives are compatible with sustainable futures. The framework provides a way in which sustainability science can better understand the origins of natural resource management conflicts, characterise the positions of the actors involved, identify the potential for cooperation between stakeholders leading to policy resolution and judge what Pathways help or hinder the pursuit of sustainable development. In addition, it can enhance sustainability science by guiding integrative sustainability research at the project scale.     

A global security approach towards implementing sustainable development in southern Africa

SUMMARY

An interactive and incremental developmental approach to sustainable development is proposed. It requires broad public participation, is based on the development of a shared value system for civic society and norms which determine the behaviour of states. It is aimed at building commitment rather than directing change. This is achieved by simultaneoulsy harnessing the notions of ‘positive human survival’ adopted from Global Security theory and a co-evolutionary approach to human socio-economic constructs. Modern threats to Nation States can be regarded as ‘threats without enemies’, are not compatible with traditional views of sovereignty, and confronting such threats frequently requires co-operative behaviour and good neigbourliness from states. Principles likely to underpin an evolving shared value system for Nation states and civil society include: democracy, equity and diversity. In order to deal with the uncertainty of evolving socio-economic constructs and the conceptual pluralism inherent in modern societies, public agencies need to develop significant mediation, negotiation and facilitation skills. This view has significant implications for National and Regional policy, and the democratisation of information and the development of early warning capabilities about potential threats to human security are pivotal.     

Real-time hydro-environmental modeling and visualization system for public engagement

Quantitative environmental impact assessment (EIA) provides a tool for decision makers and the public to understand issues relating to sustainable development. The use of advanced hydro-environmental modelling and visualization technology can help to provide an intuitive and interactive digital platform to better communicate EIA issues and thus promote continuous public involvement and stakeholder engagement. Such a platform must be based on a robust hydrodynamic model engine that provides seamless predictions from the near to far field. This lecture summarizes the key issues of impact assessment in urban coastal cities, and presents examples of impact assessment of several major sewage outfalls, including the Hong Kong Harbour Area Treatment Scheme. The predictions of a recently developed Distributed Entrainment Sink Approach (DESA) for dynamic coupling of the near and far fields are compared with alternative “actual source" approaches and field experiments. The conceptual elements of a real time water quality forecast and management system are outlined.     

Using internet search behavior to assess public awareness of protected wetlands

Improving public awareness of protected wetlands facilitates sustainable wetland management, which depends on public participation. One way of gauging public interest is by tracking Internet search behavior (ISB). We assessed public awareness of issues related to protected wetland areas (PWAs) in South Korea by examining the frequencies of specific queries (PWAs, Ramsar, Upo wetland, Sunchon Bay, etc.) using relative search volumes (RSVs) obtained from an Internet search engine. RSV shows how many times a search term is used relative to a second search term during a specific period. Public awareness of PWAs changed from 2007 to 2013. Initially the majority of Internet searches were related to the most well‐known tidal and inland wetlands Sunchon Bay and Upo wetlands, which are the largest existing wetlands in Korea with the greatest historical exposure. Public awareness, as reflected in RSVs, of wetlands increased significantly following PWA designation for the wetlands in 2008, which followed the Ramsar 10th Conference of Contracting Parties to the Convention on Wetlands (COP10) meeting. Public interest was strongly correlated to the number of news articles in the popular media, as evidenced by the increase in Internet searches for specific wetlands and words associated with specific wetlands. Correspondingly, the number of visitors to specific wetlands increased. To increase public interest in wetlands, wetland aspects that enhance wetland conservation should be promoted by the government and enhanced via public education. Our approach can be used to gauge public awareness and participation in a wide range of conservation efforts.     

Sustainable urban development: Policy framework for sustainable consumption and production

The environmental impact of consumption and production is diverse and wide-reaching: air, water and ground pollutants are emitted during different phases of a life cycle, natural resources are overexploited and ecosystems are degraded. Changing consumption patterns in Asia forecast major impacts from increased demand for electric and electronic goods, cars and processed and protein-rich food, as well as buildings. While some countries have adopted policy at a strategic level to promote sustainable consumption and production, most countries, in particular developing countries in the Asia-Pacific region, do not have a comprehensive policy on sustainable consumption and production but would have much to gain from building on this new approach. The aim of this paper is to elaborate on current theory and practice in the area of sustainable production and consumption focusing on sustainable urban development. The paper will: 1) analyse current policy thinking in the field of regional sustainable consumption and production; 2) identify issues for regional policy development in the same fields; and 3) propose regional public policy related to sustainable consumption and production patterns, such as improved energy efficiency and use of alternative energy.     

Achieving public participation in coastal zone environmental impact assessment

The case is made in this paper for early and integrative public participation in planning decisions concerning proposals major development in the zone. This is perhaps easy to subscribe to in theory but much more difficult in practice. Currently the extent and timing of public involvement in such decisions varies widely. A key benefit is the legitimacy that public participation provides to the planning process and, perhaps as a result, a variety of public involvement methodologies have emerged. Important considerations include which sections of the public to involve and at what stage in the decision-making process to involve them. The multidisciplinary nature of coastla zone issues will tend to engage a wide variety of stakeholder groups who in turn will influence the topics for discussion. A major port expansion proposal in the UK is used to illustrate a range of ways in which the public can be involved. The case study also highlights that public participation is an uncertain science, and to be successful can require skilled personnel and significant resources. The papper concludes that more guidance for developers, some standardisation of public involvement, training for facilitatiors and a more responsible stance from some environmental pressure groups would be advantageous. The complexity of coastal decision-making, tensions between science and policy, and the inter-dependency of coastal activities mutually reinforce the view that inclusive participation is an important issue for all coastal communities.     

An integrated sustainability decision-support framework Part II: Problem analysis

One of the main goals in decision-making for sustainable development is to identify and choose the most sustainable option among different alternatives. This process usually involves a large number of stakeholders with multiple, often conflicting objectives. Facilitating and resolving such difficult decision situations can be complex, so that a more formal and systematic approach to decision-making may be necessary. This paper proposes an integrated multiple criteria decision-support framework specifically developed to provide a systematic, step-by-step guidance to decision-makers. The framework, which is suitable for both corporate and public policy-making in the context of sustainable development, comprises three steps: problem structuring, problem analysis and problem resolution. This paper concentrates on problem analysis and resolution, where decision-makers articulate their preferences for different decision criteria. A suitable Multiple Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) technique, such as multi-objective optimisation, goal programming, value-based and outranking approaches, is then used to model the preferences. These techniques are discussed here in some detail, to provide guidance on the choice of the most appropriate MCDA method. Based on the outcome of preference modelling, which estimates the overall 'value' of each alternative being considered, decision-makers can then choose the 'best' or most sustainable option. Such an integrated decision-support framework is useful for providing structure to the debate, ensuring dialogue among decision-makers and showing trade-offs between conflicting objectives. In this way, it may be possible to create shared understanding about the issues, generate a sense of common purpose and, often, resolve 'difficult' decision problems.     

Comparative aspects of mountain land resources management and sustainability: Case studies from India and Canada

India and Canada share a common heritage in natural resources management. Both have a colonial background, settlers and indigenous peoples; there is a history of management agencies with utilitarian attitudes, and a history of treating public lands as commodities for commerce rather than as resources for local livelihoods. This historical context guided the overall goal of this study, which was policy development for the sustainable use of mountain environments. Interviews, workshops and seminars were held with local people and resource management professionals in a comparative case study in two regions; the Kullu area in Himachal Pradesh, India and the Arrow Lakes area in British Columbia, Canada. The paper is organized around two main objectives of the work relating to the successes and failures of mountain environment resource management policies and the development of criteria for assessing and monitoring sustainability in mountain environments, in particular, criteria for examining relevant crosscultural dimensions of sustainable development in these environments. By way of conclusion the paper considers further ways in which traditional resource policy development and implementation is being challenged by changing values and priorities; ecosystems management with people; and co-management and public participation.