Consultant Anita Lewis presented a webinar hosted by WasteMINZ on the 9th October 2024. Titled ‘Invisible Waste: Unveiling Microplastic Pollution’, Anita discusses the pervasive issue of microplastics. Focusing on its sources, environmental impacts, and the role of the waste management sector in mitigation and management.
Anita highlights the significant contribution of microplastics from textiles, the far-reaching consequences for ecosystems and human health, and the ability of microplastics to spread across the globe, including remote locations like Antarctica.
Anita discusses solutions including improving wastewater treatment technologies, policy changes, and shifting to the circular economy for textiles and plastics in particular. Other ways to reduce microplastic pollution include increasing industry accountability and public awareness.
Ever wondered where the rubber on your tyres goes when it wears off? Eunomia Senior Consultant Dr Chiarina Darrah took part in a panel discussion on the problem of microplastics from tyre wear at this year’s Fully Charged Live.
The festival of clean energy technologies and electric vehicles took place over 7th–9th June at Silverstone, UK. Fully Charged is a YouTube channel exploring electric vehicles and renewable energy, hosted by writer, broadcaster and actor Robert Llewellyn and Jonny Smith.
Chiarina appeared on Sunday 9th in a session titled ‘What you need to know about particulate & tyre pollution’. She drew on our work on emissions of microplastics into the environment to discuss the scale of the problem, potential policy solutions and what consumers can do to help. The panel was chaired by physicist, oceanographer and broadcaster Helen Czerski, and also featured Richard Lofthouse of Emissions Analytics, independent specialists for the measurement of real-world emissions, and G Erlendsson of Enso Tyres, a manufacturer of sustainable tyres for electric vehicles.
This report, from Eunomia UK, highlights the potential for a measures-based approach to be more effective at tackling marine plastic litter than setting targets.
Marine plastics are an emerging issue facing policy makers. However, the information we currently have on the impacts of marine plastics is limited. This makes it challenging to identify what a ‘socially optimal’ level of marine plastic pollution would be. The lack of information seems to be encouraging a wide spectrum of policy responses, which range from a complete ban on many kinds of plastic at one extreme, to “do nothing until we’ve improved our data” at the other.
This document reflects upon the data challenge and explains why detailed monitoring of marine litter is difficult, expensive and ultimately, perhaps, unnecessary. It argues that setting reduction targets for marine plastics is unlikely to be effective policy. Instead, it proposes a “Best Available Technique” approach to the selection of measures, similar to the way in which industrial emissions are addressed.
This report is available free of charge. Press the button below to download.
