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Purpose: This paper offers a first look into journalistic coverage on the enduring issue of marine litter. The presented study seeks to identify dominating news issue frames of marine pollution to analyse the prospective approaches of journalists.

Method: A content analysis of print news-of-record sources was conducted. The theoretical background of Cultural Studies and Political Consumerism Theory was employed to analyse environmental reporting in the United States and France.

Findings: The main result is that French sources focus primarily on proposed legislation and political commentary around the issue instead of ways for readers to solve the problem themselves. Journalists who assert legislation as the principal method for fighting marine debris eliminate plastic from the source. Conversely, American journalists predominantly framed the environmental threat of marine debris as a cultural issue. This individualistic approach aims to motivate privileged readers to make lifestyle changes that, notionally, will suppress global consumption of single-use plastics.

Research limitations/implications: The individualistic approach common in American news coverage aims to motivate privileged readers to make lifestyle changes that, notionally, will suppress global consumption of single-use plastics. This approach does not reflect the scientific communities overwhelming scepticism of oversimplistic solutions to this global environmental issue.

Originality/value: This foundational paper offers issue frames through which social science research on framing, rhetorical criticism and media effects of marine litter news coverage can build upon.

The adverse effect of plastic pollution on the tourism industry is one of the emerging research areas in the field of sustainable tourism over the past years. However, there is a lack of discussion on this issue in the academic platforms. Considering this, in this chapter, a scientometric analysis of 110 academic publications from the Web of Science (WoS) between 1999 and 2021 related to plastic pollution and tourism is presented. A bibliometric analysis using CiteSpace was utilised to analyse the data to present the keyword timezone, collaboration network and co-citation network. The analysis shows that the publications in this field have increased rapidly, and it has become an emerging and interdisciplinary research topic. Scholars from Australia, Spain, Brazil and China have published most on the topic. The Chinese Academy of Science with four articles is the largest contributor in this field among other institutions. Moreover, citizen science is found to be a new keyword coming up in recent years, and human health is one of the major concerns. The findings from this study provide valuable insights for the academicians and policy makers in understanding the issue.

The original principles of the hierarchy of resource use seem to have been forgotten. The purpose of this paper is to address the necessity of these principles in order for a circular economy (CE) to be sustainable.

This is a general review paper explaining today’s shortcomings in a CE and in the waste hierarchy. Its theoretical contribution is illustrated using the example of marine plastic waste in the Arctic, as well as the EU’s action plan for a CE: “Closing the loop”.

There is a need to reduce raw materials into the economy directly and not only as a potential result of recycling. This is supported theoretically and by illustrating that the EU’s action plan is closing the loop primarily from the output side.

The theoretical possibility of complete recycling rests on a premise that is now at odds with a sustainable development.

The power of existing raw material production cycles must be challenged to allow reduction to be a real option. If not, a CE may exacerbate a moral trade-off by the current generation reducing the safe operating space of future living beings.

The theoretical possibility of recycling everything, also known as the technology-optimist view, has played the role of a safety net for humanity. As we are now exceeding planetary boundaries for a safe and just space for humanity, this theoretical safety net is no longer valid. Instead, we must reinforce the basic principles of the hierarchy of resource use.

This paper aims to compare the learning outcomes of gaming simulation and guided inquiry in sustainability education on plastic waste management. The current study targets the identification of success factors in these teaching approaches.

This study used a quasi-experimental design with undergraduate participants who were randomly assigned to an eight-hour sustainability education class using either gaming simulation or guided inquiry. Pre- and post-tests on students’ knowledge, attitudes and intended behavior were conducted, followed by individual interviews to provide more detailed reflections on the teaching approach to which they were assigned.

In terms of knowledge acquisition and behavioral changes, the quantitative results suggested that the pre-/post-test in-group differences were significant in both groups. More importantly, a significant positive attitudinal change was observed in the gaming simulation group only. In the interviews, participants attributed effective knowledge acquisition to active learning element in class, while the characterization of cognitive dissonance triggered in the gaming simulation induced subsequent affective changes.

Activities in this program can be applied or modified to accommodate differences in other similar programs. The findings can also provide indicators to designs of similar programs in the future.

This paper explores plausible factors (ideology and implementation) that contribute to successful sustainability education programs. Through comparison between gaming simulation and guided inquiry, elements for effective education for sustainable development learning in the pedagogical designs are discussed.

In hot forging, a significant amount of forging force is used for overcoming frictional force at the die-billet interface. The high frictional force along with thermomechanical stress lead to wear, plastic deformation, mechanical fatigue and cracks, which reduce the service life of hot forging dies. Of all these different types of issues, wear is the predominant mode of failure in hot forging dies. This paper aims to describe mechanisms of wear transition in different loads at near forging temperature, occurring during sliding of chromium-based H11 tool steel specimens.

High temperature pin-on-disc tests are performed with pin specimens machined from bars of X38CrMoV5 steel, heat treated to surface hardness of 40-42 HRc. The disc is made of EN 31 steel with hardness of 60-62 HRc. Tests are performed at constant temperature of 500°C, and the normal load was varied from 20 to 70 N.

Scanning electron microscopy investigations on worn surface have revealed that wear is primarily due to abrasion and plastic deformation. The test results show an increasing trend in wear rate with increase in load up to 30 N, followed by a reversal in trend until 50 N. This transition in wear rate is caused by development of wear resistant layers, which are formed by compaction of wear debris particles on to the worn surfaces. These compact layers are found to be stable during load range from 40 and 50 N. However, with further increase in load, abrasive wear tracks are observed without any evidence of protective layers. As a result, there is an increase in wear rate with increase in loads above 50 N. In addition, plastic shearing was dominant over abrasive wear at this load regime.

The study on wear behaviour of H11 hot forging steel at 20 to 70 N will be an input to the research in hot forming industries.

In 1987, Campbell Soup Company introduced the Souper Combo, a line of frozen soup and sandwiches. Melvin Druin, vice‐president for packaging, called it “the perfect combination of old‐fashioned good taste and today's convenience. No mess. No fuss. Easy to use. All you have to do is clean your spoon. Everything else just throw away.” Unfortunately, the multi‐layered plastic‐coated packaging does not just disappear when thrown away. Plastics packaging, particularly from convenience products, has become a waste disposal nightmare. Garbage, an environmental magazine, gave the Souper Combo an “in the dumpster” award, saying, “It's precisely the kind of product that's created the municipal landfill monster.”

This chapter explores how the irruption of plastic materials in contemporary society, in the same way that it facilitated a wide range of human activities, eventually degenerated into a global danger through the contamination of rivers and seas, damaging the human food chain. In doing so, the historical background of this situation has been outlined. Moreover, the countries and areas at present that have polluting plastic substances and those that can be most easily recycled is highlighted. It should be noted that it is precisely in the area of recyclability where most hopes have been placed to counteract plastic contamination aimed at avoiding single-use plastic products. Subsequently, the different positions adopted by the members of society on this problem have been described and, by way of example, the state of the situation in a specific country, Spain, has been summarised.

Plastic waste is one of the long-standing global issues in the recent era. Unfortunately, India is one of the countries which has been affected by the mismanagement of the use of plastics. India has recorded a substantial growth in the production of plastic and is considered a country of increased consumption of plastic. Due to the absence of an appropriate waste collection and segregation process, it has created the major issue of waste management and discarded used plastic items used for packaging application. There are various plastic waste management laws and programmes that have a cascading effect on almost every sector of business. In 2016, two years after the new union government took power in New Delhi, The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) has made some improvements in rules for the collection, segregation, processing, treatment and disposal of the waste. In the pandemic era, effective plastic waste management became more important than ever. The COVID-19 pandemic has created an increased demand for single-use plastic because of pressure on the already out-of-control global plastic waste problem. It is recorded to be large, and the magnitude of this pandemic related to mismanaged plastic waste is unknown. However, understanding the changing landscape and alarming need for effective plastic waste management, the government of India has proposed certain changes to prohibit imports, handling, manufacturing and use of single-use plastics in the country. This is in line with the government's intent to phase out single-use plastic by 2022. Considering this, this chapter highlights the changes in the rules and regulations in India related to plastic waste management and its effects on various sectors of business.

In 2017, global plastic production reached 348 million tonnes. Despite growing concerns about the environmental challenges associated with both plastic production and plastic waste, recent estimates suggest that plastic production and subsequent waste is expected to double by the year 2035 (European Commission, 2018). To help reduce the amount of plastic waste that litters the oceans and damages the environment, the European Union has recently commissioned a study about the feasibility of levying a tax on plastic products (New Economic Foundation for the Rethink Plastic Alliance, 2018). However, very few academic articles currently exist that critically examine the arguments for or against a plastic tax and thereby enlighten government and regulators on the subject. This chapter investigates whether plastic taxes can be used as an economic disincentive for plastic products and explores its advantages and disadvantages within a circular economy. It explores whether a plastic tax is the right economic instrument to limit the use of plastics, generate design and technical innovations for bio-based materials and degradable/recyclable plastics, create other economic incentives to optimize the value of plastic and its waste collection, and increase public awareness and responsibility. We find that a plastic tax may be a suitable solution as it is likely to influence the design, production, consumption, and waste sectors if designed properly. Yet, the tax should be carefully implemented and combined with other instruments to obtain the desired outcomes and reduce the occurrence of unfavorable side effects.

The purpose of this paper is to develop a new model in which the interrelationship between the barriers can be determined that hinder the implementation of effective recycling processes in the plastic sectors of India.

Today manufacturers do not want their input to be deemed waste and subsequently be discarded, so their efforts and resources have been channeled into the development of efficient recycling methods. However, there are several barriers hindering the implementation of effective and efficient recycling. In this paper several of the most influential barriers are taken into consideration and implemented in the interpretive structural modeling.

The results divided the barriers into four clusters and identified the weak and strong barriers and implemented relationships between them.

Globally plastic waste has been steadily increasing. Recycling plastic has received much attention because many companies are using it as a strategic tool to serve their customers and to generate good revenue, but there is a lack of effective recycling units in India. The work of this paper and its results will be helpful in the implementation of an effective and efficient recycling unit for the plastic sector.

The recycling process can be improved by avoiding barriers of PLASTIC recycling.

In this paper, the plastic industries of India are studied and analyzed, and the barriers are found.