Plastic Pollution Essay: a Multi-Fold Solutions

Plastic Pollution Essay

Multi-Fold Solutions Plan

How much plastic is too much plastic, and how can we halt this infernal machine? For the past few months—ever-since my return from Cambodia, plastics have been weighing heavily on my mind. They’re everywhere, on the streets, the mountains, and beaches of this world. They litter the bottom of the deepest oceans and are even found caught in the ice that has cooled our planet for thousands of years.

A few days ago, looking back at my photos of South East Asia and lamenting the ubiquitous plastic that’s in almost every shot, I decided to go past the obvious facts and do some proper research on the topic: why is plastic everywhere and can we really get rid of it? 

• THE EVIL PLASTIC MYTH

• THE NUMBERS

• WHERE DOES IT COMES FROM

• WHAT YOU CAN DO

• INDUSTRIAL & GOVERNMENTAL SOLUTIONS

1) THE MYTH

First, let’s dismantle a myth: plastic is not evil. Plastics have actually transformed our lives and mostly for the better. Since its invention in the late 19th century, plastics have revolutionized medicine, transportation, and even space travel. Think of incubators, airbags, and helmets, plastics even save lives daily! There’s no denying that it is versatile, pliable, cheap, and durable and the true problem we face today is not with its mere production, but rather with what we’ve transformed it into an indispensable commodity. 

Nearly half of all plastic ever manufactured has been made since 2000.

Some 18 billion pounds of plastic waste flows into the oceans every year from coastal regions.

2) THE NUMBERS

So how much plastic is too much plastic and what can we do about it? Well, I’m getting to that but first I think it’s important to understand how we’ve gotten to where we are in the first place. According to a linked article published in National Geographic in 2016, world production has increased exponentially since the 1950s with numbers rising from 162 million tons in 1993 to 448 million in 2015. Production has skyrocketed to the point that half of the plastics ever manufactured has been made in the past 15 years. 

3) WHERE IT COMES FROM

The reality behind these numbers is sad and infuriating. For the last decade, about 40 percent of the plastic produced each year is disposable, much of which makes up for packaging that is discarded minutes after purchase. In 2010, according to an estimate by Jambeck, half the world’s mismanaged plastic waste was generated by just five Asian countries: China, Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam, and Sri Lanka. Now, this is not to say that the plastic problem is Asia’s fault—let’s not forget that shoppers in the United States are estimated to use almost one plastic bag per day and that the country only recycles 9% of its plastic trash, but this information does highlight the need for targeted international aid and support to these Asian countries. 

Plastic recycling rates are highest in Europe at 30 percent. China’s rate is 25 percent & The United States recycles just 9 percent of its plastic trash.

4) WHAT YOU CAN DO

Before you feel yourself being sucked into the spiral of unsolvable and complex environmental issues, let me tell you one thing: there are solutions. They’re not easy and a single-handed effort to focus on only one of those solutions is pointless, but combined, these could all go a long way to halting the plastic crisis. Like all good environmental challenges, solving the plastic crisis involves different actors and for this purpose, I’ll start with you.

At the individual level, your once chance of purposeful action is avoiding single-use plastics at all costs. There is proof that corporations are responding to public opinion. As the National Geographic article mentions, Coca-Cola announced a goal to “collect and recycle the equivalent of” 100 percent of its packaging by 2030. It and other multinationals, including PepsiCo, Amcor, and Unilever, have pledged to convert to 100 percent reusable, recyclable, or compostable packaging by 2025. These changes are the result of the changing market, Coca-Cola didn’t wake up thinking recycling was suddenly great, but they started noticing the changing trends put forward by their consumers. Call it greenwashing—it very well may be, but nonetheless, if the action follows the words then it’s still a clear win for our planet. 

5) INDUSTRIAL & GOVERNMENTAL SOLUTIONS

At the industrial level, the real need is to focus on the long-term. Instead of funding research to create more durable and cheaper plastic, industries need to focus on finding alternatives to plastics as well as on funding research that is looking to design plastics that are either easier to recycle or biodegradable, not more durable. And finally but most importantly, governments around the world need to invest in garbage trucks and landfills, especially in developing Asian countries. It’s not a sexy solution, I’ll grant you that, but it’s a necessary one. Plastics are not going to disappear tomorrow and before we dream up a waste-free world, we need to collect, landfill, recycle, or even burn the waste that’s been scattered on the landscape. 

Relevant Sources

• https://ourworldindata.org/plastic-pollution

• https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2018/05/plastics-facts-infographics-ocean-pollution/

• https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/2018/06/plastic-planet-waste-pollution-trash-crisis/

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