THE PLASTIC REVOLUTION
Plastics made from fossil fuels are just over a century old and its production accelerated after World War II. They revolutionized medicine, made space travel possible, lightened cars and jets—saving fuel and pollution—and saved lives with helmets, incubators, and equipment for clean drinking water.
THE OVERFLOW
Single use plastics are being used for an average of 12 minutes and they take hundreds of years to decompose in microplastics, which are harming the environment even further. Today, they account for 40% of the world’s plastic produced.
We need to acknowledge that every single bit of plastic ever produced and binned is still in the landfill and it will still be there for a long time.
INCREASING DEMAND
Although plastic proved to be lifechanging to humans, its long life-span and low recycling rates led to the point where the planet is over-flowing with plastic debris, harming life on Earth.
The plastic production increased from 2.3 million tons in 1950 to 448 million tones 2015, and its expected to double by 2050. Half of all plastics ever manufactured have been made in the last 15 years.
LOW RECYCLING RATES
The low plastic recycling rates are low for quite a few reasons. Manufacturers create products that are difficult to fix and even more difficult to dismantle for recycling. More than that, producing new plastic is still cheaper and better quality than the recycled one.
WASTE EXPORT
Instead of dealing with their own waste, Governments from the developed world’s allow the sell of their recyclables as landfill, to countries where corruption and poor legislation allow it. In 2020, the EU exported around 33 million tones of waste to non-EU countries and nearly 70 million tones of waste are shipped between EU countries. According to the Plastic Pollution Coalition, the US exported 1.07 million tons of plastic waste in 2018, about one third of its recycling. Data taken from the US Census Bureau shows that 78% of those exports were sent to countries with poor waste management.
POOR WASTE MANAGEMENT
Bad waste management, low recycling rates and the lack of individual responsibility led to landfills, forests and waters being covered in plastics.
WHAT ARE THE SOLUTIONS ?
- Banning single plastic use (cups, cutlery, straws, plastic bags, unnecessary packaging, etc.).
- Educating population refuse, re-use and recycle plastic.
- Banning waste export to poorer countries.
- Replacing the plastic where possible with eco-friendly alternatives.
- Stricter rules for manufacturers to make product recycling more feasible.
- Spreading awareness, so people can make ethical choices.