Samenvatting

The issue of plastic marine pollution has drastically increased in recent years. The questionable management of single-use plastic items has led to a concerning environmental scenario. The European Union is desperately trying to tackle the issue. In the early months of 2019, the EU approved the single-use plastics ban to mitigate plastic marine pollution. This research aims to understand the feasibility of the Ban and further identify a sustainable alternative to conventional polymers. In the literature review, the journey of EU legislation against plastic pollution and the main legislative action were discussed together with the main scientific aspects of Plastic in the marine environment. Before diving in the discussion part, the EU Single-Use plastic ban was analyzed and the articles were presented and explained.
Furthermore, the EU ban was discussed using academic publications on LCA (Life Cycle Assessment), analysis of the EU plastic lobbies, discussion of the EPR as a new strategy and considerations on illegal waste export. . The results show that despite a margin of improvement, namely 5.5% less in marine plastic pollution, the Single-use plastic ban is vague and provides an incomplete answer to the issue of plastic pollution. To have a concrete example of the implementation scenarios in a Member State, the Italian and German situation on plastic was analysed and discussed. This was done by analysing the law concerning the measures and goals set by the EU Circular Economy Strategy and the 2019 Directive on Plastic. Results show, that despite the proactive attitude of the Italian government, both legislation and infrastructure are not ready yet for the correct transposition of the Directive, while Germany has a better possibility. The final part of the research concerns the identification of one or more sustainable alternatives. This was possible to achieve through the selection of best-performing biopolymers according to scientific research, evaluation of the practical application in the industry, and final comparison. The interview with Professor M.Valente was crucial for this chapter. Results show, that both PHBH (Japan produced biopolymer) and WPC (Wood Polymer Composites) could be sustainable alternatives to oil-based polymers. However, further scientific and economic research is needed. In conclusion, The EU Directive on plastics provides interesting means to fight plastic pollution such as EPR, structural changes in the production of single-use items and more awareness-raising activities. The measurements show that despite the interesting measures, the EU Directive provides for a limited reduction of plastic marine pollution and therefore it represents an unfinished answer to the problem it intends to tackle. It becomes evident that a combination of interventions in several sectors and with the cooperation of EU and non-EU countries is the only possible way to really address the plastic pollution issue.