Plastics

The growth of plastics production during the past 70 years has outpaced that of any other manufactured material. The same properties that make plastics so versatile in innumerable applications—durability and resistance to degradation—make these materials difficult or impossible for nature to assimilate. Thus, without a well-designed and tailor-made management strategy for end-of-life plastics, humans are conducting a singular experiment on a global scale, in which billions of metric tons of material will accumulate across all major terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems on the planet. The relative advantages and disadvantages of dematerialization, substitution, reuse, recycling, waste-to-energy, and conversion technologies must be carefully considered to design the best solutions to the environmental challenges posed by the enormous and continued growth in global plastics production and use.

Publications

Geyer R, Gavigan J, Jackson AM, Saccomanno VR, Suh S, Gleason MG (2022) Quantity and Fate of Synthetic Microfiber Emissions from Apparel Washing in California and Strategies for their Reduction, Environmental Pollution, Volume 298, April 2022, Article 118835.

Kuczenski B, Vargas C, Gilman EL, Musyl M, Geyer R, Wilson, J (2021) Plastic gear loss estimates from remote observation of industrial fishing activity, Fish and Fisheries, DOI: 10.1111/faf.12596.

Kuczenski B, Vargas C, Gilman EL, Musyl M, Winkler B, Geyer R (2021) A model for the intensity of fishing gear, Journal of Industrial Ecology, DOI: 10.1111/jiec.13156.

Gavigan J, Kefala T, Macadam-Somer I, Suh S, Geyer R (2020) Synthetic microfiber emissions to land rival those to waterbodies and are growing, PLoS ONE, 15(9): e0237839.

Geyer R, Jambeck J, Lavender Law K (2017) Production, Use, and Fate of all Plastics ever made, Science Advances, 3(7), e1700782.

Jambeck J, Geyer R, Wilcox C, Siegler T, Perryman M, Andrady A, Narayan R, Lavender Law K (2015) Plastic waste inputs from land into the ocean, Science, 347(6223), 768-771.

Kuczenski B, Geyer R (2013) PET Bottle Reverse Logistics – Environmental Performance of California’s CRV program, Int. Journal of Life Cycle Assessment, 18(2), 456-471.

Geyer R, Kuczenski B (2012) The Impact of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) in California on Global Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions: Recycled Content Guidelines for Plastic Products, CalRecycle, Sacramento, CA.

Kuczenski B, Geyer R, Trujillo M (2012) The Impact of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) in California on Global Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions: Plastic Clamshell Container Case Study, CalRecycle, Sacramento, CA.

Kuczenski B, Geyer R (2010) Material flow analysis of polyethylene terephthalate in the US, 1996-2007, Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 54(12), 1161-1169.