Quellen und Datenbasis.

Peer-reviewed LCA quantifying plastic mass per cosmetic container across PE, PET and PP formats, a primary basis for our bottle, cap and pump weights.

Compares HDPE bottle, refill pouch and bulk dispenser per litre of shampoo. Source for our refill-vs-bottle savings figures.

Component-level breakdown of a shampoo container, bottle wall, cap, label and adhesive, used to validate our material splits.

Industrial study of recycled HDPE bottle production with measured wall thicknesses and unit weights.

UK-level disposal volume for toothpaste tubes, used to contextualise per-tube plastic mass.

Recyclability and material composition of mono-material HDPE tubes, basis for our recyclability percentages.

Industry case study confirming ~20 billion toothpaste tubes/year and the shift to mono-material HDPE.

EU technical reference for typical packaging-to-product ratios across personal-care formats.

Industry-wide benchmarks: virgin-plastic share, recycled content rates, and recyclability progress for FMCG personal-care signatories.

Pooled LCA evidence on PET bottle mass, recycled-content rates and end-of-life pathways, primary basis for our PET bottle weights.

UNEP-backed comparative LCA of PET, glass, aluminium and reusable bottles. Anchors our 'reusable bottle' alternative figures.

North American industry LCA with current PET bottle weights, recycled-content levels and production energy figures.

Comprehensive review of why multilayer film (snack bags, pouches, lidding film) is almost never recycled in practice, backs our low recyclability scores.

Quantifies the impact reduction when multilayer film is redesigned as mono-PE or mono-PP for kerbside recycling.

UNEP comparative LCA of disposable vs reusable nappies, material composition and per-unit plastic mass for disposable diapers.

Foundational government LCA quantifying plastic content (SAP, PE backsheet, PP topsheet) in standard disposable nappies.

Peer-reviewed comparison of pads, tampons (with/without applicators) and menstrual cups, backs our applicator and pad plastic weights.

Cradle-to-grave LCA of HDPE jugs vs refill pouches vs pods, direct source for our laundry-jug-vs-refill savings figure.

Cradle-to-grave LCA of five UK detergent formats per wash; finds the use stage dominates (>70%), which is why we treat packaging as the actionable share rather than the largest one.

UNEP LCA of plastic, paper, bagasse and reusable cups/cutlery, backs our foodservice plastic-per-use figures and the 'reusable beats compostable' claim above ~20 reuses.

Per-1000-meals LCA quantifying when compostable cutlery actually beats conventional plastic at end-of-life.

OECD authoritative figures on resin production energy intensity and water use, backs the per-gram coefficients in productionFootprint().

Industry-association reference for global resin production volumes, polymer mix and recycled-content shares used to weight our averages.

Official U.S. recycling-rate dataset by polymer (PET, HDPE, PP, film) used to ground our recyclability-percent estimates.

Landmark estimate of 4.8–12.7 million tonnes of plastic entering the ocean per year, frames the archive's pollution context.

Global mass-balance: of 8.3 Bt of virgin plastic ever produced, only ~9% has been recycled. Source for our recycled-content baselines.

Quantifies riverine plastic flux (1.15–2.41 Mt/yr), used to contextualise per-item pollution numbers in our blurbs.

Official NOAA reference for marine plastic decomposition timelines, direct basis for our decomposition_years field.

Peer-reviewed evidence of microplastic shedding from PET/nylon pyramid teabags into the cup itself.

Latest signatory-level data on recyclable/reusable/compostable packaging and recycled-content targets across 1000+ FMCG brands.

Global review of single-use plastic policy and consumption, frames the archive's category list and 'avoidability' badges.

UK industry progress data on problem-plastic elimination, recycled-content uptake and on-pack recyclability labelling.

Shows how little of a coffee or butter product's footprint sits in the flexible wrapper compared with the contents, the basis for our 'the food usually beats the film' caveat on pouches.

Compares HDPE bottles, cartons and pouches for the same litre of milk, including distribution and losses, used for our milk and drink container weights.

Detailed inventory of bottle, cap and crate masses across common milk sizes, a primary source for our HDPE bottle gram figures.

Recent assessment of mono-material and recyclable flexible packaging routes, including what recycling actually recovers, informs our pouch recyclability ratings.

Break-even reuse counts for takeaway containers, the source for how many uses a reusable box needs before it beats the disposable one.

Compares concentrated and ready-to-use cleaning formats including their packaging, supports our concentrate and dilution-at-home alternatives.

Measures the packaging avoided when detergent is dispensed in-store into a returned container, the evidence behind our refill-station savings.

Quantifies plastic content and end-of-life fate of wet wipes, including fibre release, used for our wipes entries and their alternatives.

Compares plastic, paper, PLA and steel straws across several impact categories, the basis for our straw weights and the honest caveats about paper.

Non-European carrier-bag study showing how reuse counts and local waste systems change the answer, keeps our bag guidance global rather than EU-only.

Measures fibre counts shed per wash by fabric type, the reference for our synthetic-textile entries and laundry-bag advice.

Per-wash microfibre release measured for polyester, polypropylene and polyamide garments, basis for our shedding notes on fast-fashion items.

Cradle-to-grave analysis of polyester garments: fibre production energy, dyeing and finishing, and end-of-life fate. Primary basis for our polyester weights and energy figures.

Quantifies energy and impact savings of recycled bottle-to-fibre polyester against virgin PET fibre.

Review of 41 studies: reuse consistently outperforms recycling, and blended fabrics are rarely recycled fibre-to-fibre. Backs our low recycling odds for blends.

Standard reference for cotton's water footprint (~10,000 L per kg of lint), used for cotton and cotton-blend water figures.

System-level data on garment lifespans, collection rates and the share of clothing recycled into new clothing (<1%).

EU per-person consumption, water and land use of textiles and the design decisions that drive them.

Global fibre production volumes and the recycled-content share of polyester.

Shows what mechanical recycling actually recovers from mixed household packaging, why our recyclability scores discount 'technically recyclable' claims.

Collected return rates across deposit and non-deposit systems, used in our local-disposal guidance for bottles and cans.

Country-level waste generation, collection and disposal data worldwide, the source for our non-European end-of-life assumptions.

Binding EU rules on recyclability, reuse targets, minimum recycled content and packaging minimisation, the legal backdrop for our EU disposal notes.

Plastic particles quantified in the blood of 17 of 22 healthy donors — the first demonstration that particles circulate in humans.

First detection of microplastic fragments on both the maternal and foetal sides of human placenta.

Microplastics identified in 11 of 13 surgical human lung tissue samples, including the lower lobes.

Microplastics detected in 26 of 34 human breast-milk samples.

Six polymer types found in cirrhotic liver tissue; none in healthy controls.

Microplastics present in every human and dog testis sampled; higher concentrations correlated with lower sperm count in dogs.

Post-mortem brains carried higher plastic concentrations than liver or kidney, and 2024 samples exceeded 2016 samples.

Cohort of 257 carotid surgery patients: plaque containing polyethylene or PVC was associated with a higher rate of heart attack, stroke or death over about 34 months.

Up to nine polymer types found in the stool of all eight participants across three continents.

New imaging counted roughly 240,000 plastic fragments per litre of bottled water, about 90% of them nanoplastics.

Polypropylene infant bottles released about 16 million particles per litre when formula was prepared at 70 °C.

Measured microfibre mass shed per machine wash by garment and machine type — roughly 0.2 to 4 g per load.

Peer-reviewed overview of exposure routes, plausible mechanisms of harm, and the gaps in the evidence.

WHO assessment of dietary and inhalation exposure: exposure is widespread, evidence for health effects remains limited.

Independent test of catch balls and in-line filters: fibre reduction ranged from about a quarter to roughly 87%.

Confirms multilayer films are effectively unrecyclable and end in landfill or incineration.

Shows the use phase and packaging split for hand dishwashing products.

Measures Teflon particles released from scratched and broken non-stick coatings.

Peer-reviewed review of PTFE coating breakdown at high temperature and the compounds released.

Antimony release from PET rises sharply with temperature and storage time, though it stays below drinking-water limits in fresh product.

Comparison of tap, filtered and bottled water across environmental and social indicators.

Industrial assessment of stainless-steel cutlery production, the basis for treating long-lived steel tools as an amortised footprint.

Cradle-to-gate emissions per kilogram for the commodity resins that dominate packaging (PE, PP, PET). Basis for the 2.9 kg CO2e per kilo of plastic used in the Swap Tracker estimate.

Average grid carbon intensity of electricity generation. Basis for the 0.35 kg CO2e per kWh applied to avoided production energy in the Swap Tracker.