Assessment of Taiwan'S Marine Litter Recycling Potential to Setup an Environmentally Sustainable Waste Management System

The proposed research project will have positive impacts on society, industry and academia. For academia, this is because the development of a detailed marine litter index, the insights from the recycling trials and the results from the life cycle assessment (LCA) will significantly advance the current knowledge in related academic fields. For society, the research findings will help to make better policy decisions on marine litter source reduction, product design guidelines and support structures for setting up an environmental optimal waste management system. This means, the research will promote cleaner beaches and an increased recycling rate for typical marine litter items in Taiwan. For the recycling industry, this research will be meaningful as well, because it explores novel applications and improvement potentials for their technologies. Overall, the research promotes cross-industry collaborations, the setup of a Circular Economy and thus marine litter reductions in Taiwan.