A predictive model to assess the accumulation of microplastics in the natural environment.

The use of plastics inevitably leads to (micro-)plastics entering and accumulating in the natural environment, affecting biodiversity, food security and human health. Currently, a comprehensive and universally applicable methodology to quantify microplastic accumulation in the natural environment is lacking. This study proposes an integrated biodegradation model that provides the possibility to examine and compare the microplastic formation and accumulation of different polymer types in diverse natural environments.

Predictive model for the Dutch post-consumer plastic packaging recycling system and implications for the circular economy.

The Dutch post-consumer plastic packaging recycling network has been described in detail (both on the level of packaging types and of materials) from the household potential to the polymeric composition of the recycled milled goods. The compositional analyses of 173 different samples of post-consumer plastic packaging from different locations in the network were combined to indicatively describe the complete network with material flow analysis, data reconciliation techniques and process technological parameters. The derived potential of post-consumer plastic packages in the Netherlands in 2014 amounted to 341 Gg net (or 20.