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   https://doi.org/10.1002/fee.2294  

   Hoellein, Timothy J; Rochman, Chelsea M (April 2021, Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment)

   Research on plastics in global ecosystems is rapidly evolving. Oceans have been the primary focus of studies to date, whereas rivers are generally considered little more than conduits of plastics to marine ecosystems. Within a watershed, however, plastics of all sizes are retained, transformed, and even extracted via freshwater use or litter cleanup. As such, plastic litter in terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems is an important but underappreciated component of global plastic pollution. To gain a holistic perspective, we developed a conceptual model that synthesizes all sources, fluxes, and fates for plastics in a watershed, including containment (ie disposed in landfill), non‐containment (ie persists as environmental pollution), mineralization, export to oceans, atmospheric interactions, and freshwater extraction. We used this model of the “plastic cycle” to illustrate which components have received the most scientific attention and to reveal overlooked pathways. Our main objective is for this framework to inform future research, offer a new perspective to adapt management across diverse waste governance scenarios, and improve global models of plastic litter. 

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2. Discrete Elasto-Plastic Rods

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   Li, Xuanhe; Huang, Weicheng; Jawed, M. Khalid (July 2020, Extreme Mechanics Letters)
3. CUREing Ocean Plastic in Pandemic Times

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   Barral, Ana Maria; Simmons, Rachel; DeForce, Emelia; Bowman, Jeff (May 2021, The FASEB Journal)

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4. The global odyssey of plastic pollution

   https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abc4428  

   Rochman, Chelsea M.; Hoellein, Timothy (June 2020, Science)

   Scientists who once studied microplastics (plastic debris <5 mm in size) as ocean pollutants have now detected them in soils, biota, and Earth's atmosphere. To decipher the global fate of microplastics, scientists have begun to ask questions about the “microplastic cycle,” which is akin to global biogeochemical cycles (nitrogen, carbon, and water). For example, what are the sources of microplastics, and how do they transform as they move from one pool (e.g., a beach, inside an organism, or a river bed) to another? And what processes (“fluxes”) transfer microplastics between pools? On page 1257 of this issue, Brahney et al. ( 1 ) report high-resolution spatial and temporal data that provide evidence of both global and regional microplastic transport, thus increasing our understanding of the microplastic cycle. 

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5. Plastic debris in lakes and reservoirs

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   Nava, Veronica; Chandra, Sudeep; Aherne, Julian; Alfonso, María B.; Antão-Geraldes, Ana M.; Attermeyer, Katrin; Bao, Roberto; Bartrons, Mireia; Berger, Stella A.; Biernaczyk, Marcin; et al (July 2023, Nature)