A discussion to promote global sustainability techniques for motivating plastic waste to minimize carbon footprints

This paper emphasizes the significant challenges facing the sustainable environment, including managing and handling plastic waste and reducing carbon footprints. To tackle these challenges, it is essential to identify people's awareness levels of waste handling techniques and their pro-environmental behaviors. The study focuses on Guwahati, one of the most important cities in Northeast India, which generates increasing plastic waste daily. The paper aims to identify the factors contributing to the reduction of carbon footprints resulting from plastic waste management activities. The data collected from 1326 respondents was analyzed using factor analysis, and the reliability of the dataset was confirmed using Cronbach's alpha (0.84 for the awareness level of waste management techniques and 0.780 for the prevalent mode of plastic waste management techniques). KMO (0.796), Bartlett's test of sphericity (p < 0.001), and determinant score (0.019) were used to assess the data adequacy and factorability of the dataset, and the results were found to be satisfactory. Principal component analysis, exploratory factor analysis, and varimax orthogonal rotation method were used to identify high-loaded factors by reducing the number of variables. The results showed that two highly loaded components, namely awareness level of waste management techniques (AWMT) and prevalent mode of plastic waste management techniques (PWMT), explained 27.53% and 24.34% of the total variance, respectively, with eigenvalues of 3.35 and 2.88. The regression model confirmed the statistical significance of these factors (p < 0.001) and their relationship with the dependent variable, greenhouse reduction (GHGR). The study proposes that minimizing carbon footprints in the environment can be achieved by focusing on a limited number of controllable factors such as AWMT and PWMT. This study provides valuable insights to the authorities in controlling waste generation and achieving a pollution-free environment.     

Size fraction of hazardous particulate matter governing the respiratory deposition and inhalation risk in the highly polluted city Delhi

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Delhi has been identified as one of the highly polluted cities in the world and recently associated with the highest population weighted PM2.5...     

Glycerol-mediated synthesis of nanoscale zerovalent iron and its application for the simultaneous reduction of nitrate and alachlor

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - NZVI has long been used for the remediation of different groundwater contaminants but their tendency to get oxidized easily has always been a barrier...     

A critical review on plastic waste administration

The management of plastic waste through various methods such as landfilling, recycling, and incineration has several inherent shortcomings, such as a lack of resources, preparation, motivation, financial power, and expertise. Additionally, these methods are unable to handle the quantity and types of plastic waste, nor do they increase the public's interest in plastic waste management practices. According to research, environmental, economic, and social factors are the main drivers for reducing plastic waste. Experts from around the world have identified four significant areas of concern for which solutions have been proposed: methods of plastic waste reduction and management, the amount of plastic waste, the quality of waste/plastic, and awareness of plastic waste management/cost of plastic waste management. However, individual solutions proposed for these key areas of concern are facing several challenges, leading to delays in their adoption or less popularity globally. The review has identified the reasons for the less popularity of existing plastic waste management methods, which are less environmentally friendly and have a complex process, hence requiring serious reconsideration from technocrats and researchers to develop more sustainable and efficient procedures that do not produce more hazardous by-products. This study also found that financial incentives are one of the main drivers to ensure the mass participation of lower and working-class people.