Plastic pollution is everywhere. Every day we discard millions of plastic items, and every day more plastic is made using methods harmful to the environment. The way that we dispose of our unwanted plastic items has led to plastics and microplastics being present everywhere, in our oceans, in the mountains, in non-inhabited areas of the world, in our food. Plastics are even being found in our air.
The UN Environmental Programme (UNEP) states, “Plastic pollution can alter habitats and natural processes, reducing ecosystems’ ability to adapt to climate change, directly affecting millions of people’s livelihoods, food production capabilities, and social well-being.”1
The pollution caused by creating plastic and plastic waste is having a devastating effect on our planet. It’s time to go beneath the surface and understand the far-reaching consequences of our plastic habits.
Over 400 million tons of plastics are produced every year; around half of this is used to make single-use items.2 (IUCN – the International Union for Conservation of Nature)
How Plastic is Production
Plastic is harmful to the planet from the very outset. “The production of plastic is one of the most energy intensive manufacturing processes in the world.” 3 (UNEP)
Synthetic plastics are made from crude oil, natural gas, or coal. The methods of extracting oil, gas, or coal are damaging to the environment, use huge amounts of energy and cause CO2 emissions, as does processing these materials. Sometimes the pursuit of these resources can include fracking, which creates wastewater, emits greenhouse gases, and releases air pollutants.4
(There is such a thing as biobased plastics, made from renewable products such as starch, vegetable fats, bacteria, or other biological materials, but the vast majority of plastics in use today are synthetic due to the low cost and ease of manufacturing.)
Once extracted, the materials are refined into ethane and propane, then combined with a catalyst to make polymers. These are heated and cooled into pellets, from which different plastics are made. Very high levels of energy are required, so the extreme heat emits CO2 and other greenhouse gases into our atmosphere, further contributing to global warming.
During production, many other chemicals such as flame retardants, carcinogenic BPAs, UV stabilisers and biocides are used, and these all have a negative impact on the environment too.
The sheer amount of plastic being produced is incredibly damaging to the environment, without even considering the effect it has once discarded. And plastic production is expected to more than double by 2050.
A 2021 report from Beyond Plastics found that if the plastic industry were a country, it would be the 5th largest producer of greenhouse gases in the world.6 The top 5 countries in the world are currently China, the U.S., India, Russia and Japan.7
There are many types of plastic, but single-use plastic is the worst for the environment as most items are either not recycled or not suitable for recycling, and their lifetime use can be as little as a few minutes.
Between 1950 and 2017, approximately 9.2 billion tons of plastic were produced, and around 7 billion tonnes became plastic waste.8 (UNEP)
Disposal of Plastic Waste
One of the biggest problems with plastic is how we dispose of it. There are three main ways which plastics are disposed of (from best to worst?); recycling, incineration, and landfill. (And let’s not even get started on littering! A conversation for another day.)
Recycling
Most plastic is disposed of badly; globally only around 9% of plastic is recycled.9 And, unfortunately, a lot of what we put in your recycling bin can still end up in landfill.
There are a few reasons for this:
- It can’t be recycled
- There’s no financial incentive (for anyone?) to do so – it’s cheaper just to make more
- It can be expensive and time-consuming to collect and sort into single streams
- There is a lack of clear understanding and communication about what can and can’t be recycled
- Virgin plastics tend to be better quality and therefore more in demand (although this does not have to be the case, if single stream recycling is done well)
- Lack of advanced processing technology in many countries or, in certain parts of the world, a lack of ANY kind of recycling infrastructure
There are two types of recycling for plastic, mechanical or chemical. Mechanical recycling involves the plastic being shredded, cleaned, and then placed into an extruder to create recycled pellets which can be made into new products. Some plastics cannot be mechanically recycled, but can be chemically recycled by a process of liquefaction.
So … what happens to the plastic that isn’t recycled?
Incineration
Around 25% of plastic is incinerated.9 Incinerating plastic releases pollutants like CO2 , microplastics, bisphenols and phthalates, toxins that are bad for the environment and for us.
However, modern incinerators – known as Energy from Waste plants (EfW)are much better than old-style ones: the energy created is used to power people’s homes, they actually don’t release large amounts of noxious gases into the atmosphere, and the ash byproduct can be locked into aggregate to be used in building.
The problem is that – on a global scale – very few countries have access to these modern incinerators … and even in those that do, people are resistant to new ones being built and tend not to want them anywhere near their homes.
Landfill
Almost 60% of plastics worldwide go into landfill.9
When plastic is dumped at a landfill site, any lighter pieces near the top can be blown about in the wind and will work their way towards rivers and eventually the sea, polluting our oceans. They also take hundreds of years to break down (and they don’t biodegrade). As they break down, plastics also release toxins and microplastics into our soil and oceans, which can end up in the food that we consume.
Litter
Littering is the improper disposal of waste, and a blight of modern life – in our parks, on beaches and in beauty spots, by the roadside, in our towns and cities. A topic for another time and another blog!
Consequences of Plastic Disposal
When plastic is disposed of badly, it ends up in our environment, in the wrong places, ultimately causing issues for both marine and land-based ecosystems.
The Impact of Plastic on Marine Ecosystems
Plastic pollution in the ocean is a global environmental concern. According to the National Academy of Sciences, there are currently around 580,000 pieces of plastic per km2.10 Plastic in the ocean can be found as larger pieces – often these gather together to form massive floating plastic garbage patches – and as micro or nano-plastics.
Most of the plastic found in the ocean doesn’t even come from ocean industries (although about 20% is from fishing11), but from the land. “The majority of plastic pollution in the ocean is caused by littering: we buy or use disposable plastic items (food wrappings, plastic bags, razors, bottles, etc.) and do not dispose of them properly, which cause them to end up in the waterways and eventually in the ocean.”12 (UNESCO)
Plastic makes up 80% of all marine debris.16 (IUCN)
We all understand that when animals eat plastic, or get stuck in plastic items, they die. But animals can also suffer from lacerations, infections, reduced ability to swim, or internal injuries due to ingestion of plastics and microplastics, or from contact with plastics in the water. Plastics have been found in over 90% of the world’s sea birds, half of the world’s sea turtles and even in whales.15
Even microscopic animals are consuming microplastics. For example, Zooplankton, an essential foundation to the sea life food web, are found to have ingested microplastics. Additionally, floating plastics can transport invasive species, threatening biodiversity and the food web.
The Impact of Plastic on Human Health
Plastics and microplastics present a growing threat to human health. Microplastics have been found in tap water, beer, salt and (of course) seafood. Consuming plastics in seafood has been identified as a health hazard, as the particles can contain harmful chemicals.
Whilst the effects of microplastics on the human body are still being investigated, chemicals used in the production of plastic are known to be carcinogenic and could interfere with the body’s endocrine system, potentially causing developmental, reproductive, neurological or immune disorders.17
Plastic in the Air
Studies have even found microplastics in our atmosphere. Tiny pieces of plastic can travel thousands of miles and even cause changes to cloud formations. This could have an impact on temperature and rainfall. Microplastics in the air could therefore be contributing to climate change.18 (Check out this interesting Yale Environment 360 article.)
What can we do about the plastic crisis?
The far-reaching consequences of plastic waste highlight an urgent need for collective action.
The first step to reducing plastic pollution is to understand the issue at hand. Appreciating the different ways plastic pollution happens, and the risks that it poses to the planet, to wildlife and to humans, will inspire us to take the right steps to reduce our own plastic waste and make plastic-pollution-conscious decisions in the future.
We need to:
- reduce plastic consumption – especially single-use items
- promote sustainable alternatives – rethinking packaging, more refill options
- support brands that reduce or replace their plastic packaging
- ask our politicians to introduce tighter regulations about plastic production, consumption and disposal
- campaign for comprehensive recycling and waste management systems
- remove plastic waste from our oceans and ecosystems.
Let’s commit to change, for the sake of our planet and all who inhabit it!
References
1 https://www.unep.org/plastic-pollution and https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/story/everything-you-need-know-about-plastic-pollution
2 https://www.iucn.org/resources/issues-brief/marine-plastic-pollution
3 https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/story/everything-you-need-know-about-plastic-pollution
5 https://www.consumerreports.org/environment-sustainability/the-big-problem-with-plastic/
6 https://www.theweek.co.uk/news/environment/960115/why-its-so-hard-to-fix-the-worlds-plastics-crisis
7 https://www.wri.org/insights/interactive-chart-shows-changes-worlds-top-10-emitters
8 https://www.theweek.co.uk/news/environment/960115/why-its-so-hard-to-fix-the-worlds-plastics-crisis
9 https://synovatech.com/the-plastic-recycling-problem/
10 Plastic pollution in the ocean: data, facts, consequences (unesco.org)
11 https://www.iucn.org/resources/issues-brief/marine-plastic-pollution
12 https://www.forbes.com/sites/grrlscientist/2018/04/23/five-ways-that-plastics-harm-the-environment-and-one-way-they-may-help/
13 https://e360.yale.edu/features/plastic-waste-atmosphere-climate-weather
Other Useful Sources
https://thisisplastics.com/plastics-101/how-are-plastics-made/
https://www.bpf.co.uk/plastipedia/how-is-plastic-made.aspx
https://www.plasticsforchange.org/blog/category/why-are-plastic-recycling-rate-so-low
https://journeytozerostories.neste.com/mechanical-vs-chemical-recycling
