Microplastics are today a widely discussed subject since it has been identified as a major potential problem connected to environmental and possibly even human health risks. As the understanding of microplastics has been increasing and along with it, the associated impacts, industries are working to assess and further reduce the impacts caused by these microplastics across their products and services. This study has been done on microplastics connected to its value chain, which includes all the steps from raw material use, products and packaging, operations, logistics to end-of-life. By mapping what is known and what is not known about microplastics pollution connected to this industry, providing them with a comprehensive overview to be used for further investigation within this field. Additionally, ongoing business initiatives and available standards for microplastics analysis were also included in the scope.
The study found that there are many potential sources of microplastics pollution which can be connected to the value chain. However, many areas are still unknown and the knowledge gap within this field seems to be a big problem to handle in order to be able to address the ongoing microplastics crisis. More research as well as collaboration and transparency within the industry seem to be needed in order to identify relevant sources of micro plastics and reduce emissions.
