The impact of plastic use and disposal on the environment: A bibliometric analysis and perception in a public institution

Ana Paula Santos da Silva Vasconcelos , Luiz Filipe Alves Cordeiro , Thiago Barbosa Cahu , Renata Gabriela Vila Nova de Lima and Liliana Andrea dos Santos

Abstract
The issue of plastics and their harmful effects on the environment has gained more attention and relevance from those who manufacture, use and regulate these materials, being a subject of great interest for policy and research. In the context of growing awareness of these issues, plastics have been positioned as particularly problematic materials that bear significant responsibility for the current ecological crises. The objective of this work was to identify scientific studies on the plastic use and its disposal in the environment and to analyze the environmental impacts from the point of view of a population sample's attitudes. This research presents a survey of scientific production on solid waste, more specifically on plastics and the environmental impacts caused by its inappropriate disposal from 2013 to 2022, reviewing 318 scientific articles collected in the Scopus platform database, trough titles, abstracts and keywords, which were applied to the VOSviewer software, to build bibliometric networks for citing documents, authors, institutions, countries, keywords. The analysis of these documents shows that awareness on the topic is growing, especially since 2016, when there was an increase in publications, coinciding with the implementation of the 2030 Agenda and its 17 sustainable development goals. Brazil is in 10th position in the ranking of published articles on the subject, and Italy was the country that produced the most scientific articles on the subject in question, however the United Kingdom was the country that presented the highest number of citations of its scientific works. The most cited articles were focused on the involvement of plastic in human health, recycling and marine pollution, with "environmental impact" being the most prominent keyword in the researched documents. Seeking to measure a closer reality, a questionnaire with 17 questions was also created on the Google Forms platform, using the Likert response scale and applied to the staff of the Court of Justice of Pernambuco in order to evaluate their perception regarding the use and disposal of solid waste in the workplace, especially plastic, represented in disposable coffee and water cups, on the environmental impact generated by this waste and on the institution's solid waste management policy. The obtained results in the analysis of the interviewees' perception show us that despite the concern and environmentally correct attitudes of the majority of those involved, it is clear that there is a need for wider dissemination of the institution s projects and practices on behalf of the environment and sustainable management.

Keywords
Pro-environmental behavior; Environmental Impact; Judiciary System; Recycling; Plastic waste; sustainability.

Resumo
O impacto do uso e descarte do plástico no meio ambiente: análise bibliométrica e percepção em uma instituição pública. A questão dos plásticos e seus efeitos nocivos sobre o meio ambiente tem recebido mais atenção e relevância daqueles que os fabricam, usam e regulam esses materiais, sendo um tema de grande interesse para políticas públicas e pesquisas. No contexto do crescente conhecimento dessas questões, os plásticos têm sido posicionados como materiais particularmente problemáticos, com responsabilidade significativa nas atuais crises ecológicas. O objetivo deste trabalho foi identificar estudos científicos sobre o uso de plásticos e seu descarte no meio ambiente e analisar os impactos ambientais do ponto de vista das atitudes de uma amostra da população. Esta pesquisa apresenta um levantamento da produçâo científica, entre 2013 e 2022, sobre resíduos sólidos, mais especificamente sobre plásticos e os impactos ambientais causados pelo seu descarte inadequado, revisando 318 artigos científicos coletados na plataforma de dados Scopus, por meio de títulos, resumos e palavras-chave, que foram analisados no software VOSviewer para construir redes bibliométricas de documentos citados, autores, instituições, países e palavras-chave. A análise desses documentos mostra que a conscientização sobre o tema está crescendo, especialmente desde 2016, quando houve um aumento nas publicações, coincidindo com a implementação da Agenda 2030 e seus 17 Objetivos de Desenvolvimento Sustentável. O Brasil ocupa a 10ª posição no ranking de artigos publicados sobre o tema e a Itália foi quem mais produziu artigos científicos sobre o assunto em questão, no entanto, o Reino Unido foi o país que apresentou o maior número de citações de seus trabalhos científicos. Os artigos mais citados foram focados no envolvimento do plástico na saúde humana, reciclagem e poluição marinha, sendo "impacto ambiental" a palavra-chave mais proeminente nos documentos pesquisados. Buscando medir uma realidade mais próxima, também foi criado um questionário com 17 perguntas na plataforma Google Forms, utilizando a escala de resposta de Likert e aplicado aos funcionários do Tribunal de Justiça de Pernambuco, para avaliar a percepção sobre o uso e descarte de resíduos sólidos no local de trabalho, especialmente plástico, representado pelos copos descartáveis de café e água, sobre o impacto ambiental gerado por esses resíduos e sobre a política de gestão de resíduos sólidos da instituição. Os resultados obtidos na análise da percepção dos entrevistados mostram que, apesar da preocupação e atitudes ambientalmente corretas da maioria dos envolvidos, fica claro que há uma necessidade de uma divulgação mais ampla dos projetos e práticas da instituição em prol do meio ambiente e gestão sustentável.

Palavras-chave
Comportamento pró-ambiente; Impacto ambiental; Sistema Judiciário; Reciclagem; Resíduos de plástico; Sustentabilidade.

DOI
10.21438/rbgas(2024)112701

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