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How small daily choices play a huge role in climate change: The disposable paper cup environmental bane

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dc.contributor.author Foteinis, Spyros
dc.date.accessioned 2021-11-19T11:12:21Z
dc.date.available 2021-11-19T11:12:21Z
dc.date.issued 2020-05
dc.identifier.citation Foteinis, S. 2020. How small daily choices play a huge role in climate change: The disposable paper cup environmental bane. <i>Journal of Cleaner Production, 255.</i> http://hdl.handle.net/10204/12159 en_ZA
dc.identifier.issn 0959-6526
dc.identifier.issn 1879-1786
dc.identifier.uri https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.120294
dc.identifier.uri http://hdl.handle.net/10204/12159
dc.description.abstract Disposable paper cups comprise typical single-use plastic items, as they are lined internally with a thin plastic coating for waterproofing. They are consumed at a staggering rate worldwide, with the UK alone consuming around 7 million cups daily, thus annually producing around 30,000 tonnes of paper cup waste. Contrary to popular belief, less than 1 in 400 paper cups is currently recycled in the UK, which is in stark contrast to the waste hierarchy and the European Commission’s ambitious Circular Economy Action Plan. Paper cups typically end up in landfill sites or even improperly disposed of, contributing to (micro)plastic waste and potentially polluting the world’s oceans. The implications of the latter are not fully known yet and cannot be quantified by existing life cycle impact assessment methods. By employing the life cycle assessment methodology, UK’s annual carbon footprint from paper cup consumption was found to be 75 kt of carbon dioxide equivalents, which is similar to that of manufacturing 11,500 mid-size passenger cars. Globally, their environmental footprint was found to be comparable to that of some 1.5 M average European inhabitants, indicating the nature and extent of the single-use plastics problem, which paper cups are just a typical example of. Paper cup recycling could reduce this environmental footprint by up to 40%, whereas switching to reusable cups appears to be more environmentally sustainable, achieving a threefold reduction in carbon emissions, which at global scale is more than twice Malta’s annual carbon footprint. Results indicate that consumerism along with small daily choices, such as using reusable cups or bags instead of their disposable counterparts, could play a huge role in climate change. At policy level, no concrete measures to curb the superfluous consumption of paper cups, as well as of other single-use plastic items that are becoming increasingly ubiquitous, have materialised. Furthermore, it appears that decision- and policy-makers tend to step in to curtail wasteful and polluting practices only when environmental problems have started to generate widespread concern, instead of undertaking preventative policy measures. en_US
dc.format Abstract en_US
dc.language.iso en en_US
dc.relation.uri https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0959652620303413 en_US
dc.source Journal of Cleaner Production, 255 en_US
dc.subject Environmental sustainability en_US
dc.subject Life Cycle Assessment en_US
dc.subject LCA en_US
dc.subject Life Cycle Inventory en_US
dc.subject LCI en_US
dc.subject Macroplastic en_US
dc.subject Microplastic pollution en_US
dc.subject Single-use plastics en_US
dc.subject SUP en_US
dc.title How small daily choices play a huge role in climate change: The disposable paper cup environmental bane en_US
dc.type Article en_US
dc.description.pages 8pp en_US
dc.description.note © 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Due to copyright restrictions, the attached PDF file only contains the abstract of the full text item. For access to the full text item, please consult the publisher's website: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.120294 en_US
dc.description.cluster Smart Places en_US
dc.identifier.apacitation Foteinis, S. (2020). How small daily choices play a huge role in climate change: The disposable paper cup environmental bane. <i>Journal of Cleaner Production, 255</i>, http://hdl.handle.net/10204/12159 en_ZA
dc.identifier.chicagocitation Foteinis, Spyros "How small daily choices play a huge role in climate change: The disposable paper cup environmental bane." <i>Journal of Cleaner Production, 255</i> (2020) http://hdl.handle.net/10204/12159 en_ZA
dc.identifier.vancouvercitation Foteinis S. How small daily choices play a huge role in climate change: The disposable paper cup environmental bane. Journal of Cleaner Production, 255. 2020; http://hdl.handle.net/10204/12159. en_ZA
dc.identifier.ris TY - Article AU - Foteinis, Spyros AB - Disposable paper cups comprise typical single-use plastic items, as they are lined internally with a thin plastic coating for waterproofing. They are consumed at a staggering rate worldwide, with the UK alone consuming around 7 million cups daily, thus annually producing around 30,000 tonnes of paper cup waste. Contrary to popular belief, less than 1 in 400 paper cups is currently recycled in the UK, which is in stark contrast to the waste hierarchy and the European Commission’s ambitious Circular Economy Action Plan. Paper cups typically end up in landfill sites or even improperly disposed of, contributing to (micro)plastic waste and potentially polluting the world’s oceans. The implications of the latter are not fully known yet and cannot be quantified by existing life cycle impact assessment methods. By employing the life cycle assessment methodology, UK’s annual carbon footprint from paper cup consumption was found to be 75 kt of carbon dioxide equivalents, which is similar to that of manufacturing 11,500 mid-size passenger cars. Globally, their environmental footprint was found to be comparable to that of some 1.5 M average European inhabitants, indicating the nature and extent of the single-use plastics problem, which paper cups are just a typical example of. Paper cup recycling could reduce this environmental footprint by up to 40%, whereas switching to reusable cups appears to be more environmentally sustainable, achieving a threefold reduction in carbon emissions, which at global scale is more than twice Malta’s annual carbon footprint. Results indicate that consumerism along with small daily choices, such as using reusable cups or bags instead of their disposable counterparts, could play a huge role in climate change. At policy level, no concrete measures to curb the superfluous consumption of paper cups, as well as of other single-use plastic items that are becoming increasingly ubiquitous, have materialised. Furthermore, it appears that decision- and policy-makers tend to step in to curtail wasteful and polluting practices only when environmental problems have started to generate widespread concern, instead of undertaking preventative policy measures. DA - 2020-05 DB - ResearchSpace DP - CSIR J1 - Journal of Cleaner Production, 255 KW - Environmental sustainability KW - Life Cycle Assessment KW - LCA KW - Life Cycle Inventory KW - LCI KW - Macroplastic KW - Microplastic pollution KW - Single-use plastics KW - SUP LK - https://researchspace.csir.co.za PY - 2020 SM - 0959-6526 SM - 1879-1786 T1 - How small daily choices play a huge role in climate change: The disposable paper cup environmental bane TI - How small daily choices play a huge role in climate change: The disposable paper cup environmental bane UR - http://hdl.handle.net/10204/12159 ER - en_ZA
dc.identifier.worklist 24556 en_US


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