Disposable Plastic Waste and Associated Antioxidants and Plasticizers Generated by Online Food Delivery Services in China: National Mass Inventories and Environmental Release

China’s online food delivery (OFD) services consume enormous amounts of disposable plastics. Here, we investigated and modeled the national mass inventories and environmental release of plastics and chemical additives in the plastic. The extra-tree regression identified six key descriptors in determ...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Environmental science & technology 2024-02, Vol.58 (7), p.3098-3107
Main Authors: Huang, Yu-Qi, Zeng, Yuan, Mai, Jin-Long, Huang, Zhen-Shan, Guan, Yu-Feng, Chen, She-Jun
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Additives
Antioxidants
Atmosphere
Bisphenol A
Circular economy
Cities
Combustion
Delivery services
Diet
Dietary intake
Ecotoxicology and Public Health
Environmental impact
Environmental release
Food intake
Genetic transformation
Hazardous materials
Incineration
Incineration plants
Inventories
Inventory
Megacities
Particulate emissions
Particulate matter
Phthalate esters
Plastic debris
Plastics
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons
Takeaway food
Waste disposal
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Summary:China’s online food delivery (OFD) services consume enormous amounts of disposable plastics. Here, we investigated and modeled the national mass inventories and environmental release of plastics and chemical additives in the plastic. The extra-tree regression identified six key descriptors in determining OFD sales in Chinese cities. Approximately 847 kt of OFD plastic waste was generated in 2021 (per capita 1.10 kg/yr in the megacities and 0.39 kg/yr in other cities). Various additives were extensively detected, with geomean concentrations of 140.96, 4.76, and 0.25 μg/g for ∑8antioxidants, ∑21phthalates, and bisphenol A (BPA), respectively. The estimated mass inventory of these additives in the OFD plastics was 164.7 t, of which 51.1 t was released into the atmosphere via incineration plants and 51.0 t was landfilled. The incineration also released 8.07 t of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and 39.1 kt of particulate matter into the atmosphere. Takeout food may increase the dietary intake of phthalates and BPA by 30% to 50% and raise concerns about considerable exposure to antioxidant transformation products. This study provides profound environmental implications for plastic waste in the Chinese OFD industry. We call for a sustainable circular economy action plan for waste disposal, but mitigating the hazardous substance content and their emissions is urgent.
ISSN:0013-936X
1520-5851
DOI:10.1021/acs.est.3c06345