Global Journal of Science Frontier Research, H: Environment & Earth Science, Volume 23 Issue 1

an illegal network of providers which is hard to track down through the existing enforcement actions. It was also noted that there are even fake biodegradable plastic bags that are being distributed and/or sold. On the other hand, industries dealing with milk products and those requiring modified atmosphere packaging (MAP packaging) are against the substitutes being provided for their current plastic products since they do not meet their requirements. They have thus requested an additional moratorium period (up to 2023) to be in line with the regulations. Besides regulations, Mauritius, though it is not involved in the manufacture of plastics, has to invest in research and innovation to address plastic pollution. The immediate challenges are to identify the point/ /non- point sources of pollution. Carrying out LCA would definitely lead to a better understanding of the plastic life cycle under varying conditions. In the plastic industry, sustainability should be the key issue to take into account at all cost. One such avenue is to abide by standards such as the Reporting Initiatives (GRI) (GRI 2021), and the Green Globe sustainability certification (Ásványi, 2021). The latter encourage the use of sustainable products and deal with important sectors such as tourism and manufacturing to become not only profitable, but also environmentally-friendly. To promote circularity of plastics in Mauritius value chains from manufacture to end users have to be studied. Currently, the flow of plastics in Mauritius is linear, from cradle to grave approach. However, it is imperative to develop a roadmap where circular economy together with LCA, Environmental Life Cycle Costing and Social Life Cycle Assessment are involved in order to be in a better position to further tackle (micro)plastic pollution. In addition, a mix of instruments should be considered and in parallel, there should be an aggressive campaign against the use of plastics at all levels of the society. Authors' Contributions Boodhoo K is the sole contributor to this review paper. Financial Support and Sponsorship None Conflicts of Interest All authors declared that there are no conflicts of interest. R eferences R éférences R eferencias 1. Andrady A, Hamid HS, Torikai A, et al. Effects of climate change and UV-B on materials Photochem Photobiol Sci . 2003,2, 68–72. 2. Andrady A Persistence of plastic litter in the oceans Marine anthropogenic litter . Springer, Cham 2015, pp 57-72. 3. Astrup TF, Tonini D, Turconi R, Boldrin A, et al. Life cycle assessment of thermal Waste-to-Energy technologies: review and recommendations Waste Manag. 2015, 37, 104–115. 4. 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