Mass-produced plastic has changed the world for better or worse, Jessica Bradley explores how plastic has reshaped the Earth and what the global landscape currently looks like.
In some ways, plastic has been a modern miracle – it’s durable, lightweight, strong, and low-cost, to name a few of its attributes.
It’s no wonder then that since we started mass-producing plastic in the 1950s, society has gradually become reliant on the material and is now overwhelmed by it.
It’s in the clothes we wear, the packaging in our homes, the transport we rely on, and an overwhelming number of the everyday products we use and enjoy.
Global plastics production and consumption has doubled over the past two decades – and it’s expected to triple by 2060 – but the consequences of our insatiable appetite for plastic are having many devastating consequences.
Less than 10% of all the plastic that’s ever been made has been recycled – partly, because a lot of plastics are difficult to recycle, and also because some countries have poor or no waste management.
The production of plastic is also hugely carbon intensive – globally, plastics were responsible for around 1.7 Gt of greenhouse gas emissions in 2015.
“Greenhouse gases are released at every stage of the plastic life cycle, from extraction to production, trade, use, recycling and end-of-life phases,” says Lynn Sorrentino, programme officer, plastics at IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature).
The global impact of plastic waste
Most plastics don’t degrade; they fragment into microplastics and nanoplastics, which are having detrimental effects on human, animal and planetary health.
“Plastic pollution is pervasive – it’s everywhere on earth, from the Arctic to soil and the air we breathe,” says Elena Buzzi, environmental policy analyst on the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD) circular economy team.
Exposure to plastic pollution, including micro-and nano-plastics, severely impacts biodiversity and the health and resilience of all ecosystems.
“Plastic pollution significantly reduces ecosystem resilience to climate change and the ability to benefit from disaster risk reduction, as well as amplifying all aspects of the triple planetary crisis,” says Lynn Sorrentino, programme officer, plastics at IUCN – referring to climate change, pollution, and biodiversity loss.
Communities in the Global South and small island developing sits (SIDS), she says, are disproportionately impacted by the effects of plastic pollution. This is part of the huge economic cost of plastic pollution.
Studies suggest that the cost to global marine ecosystems is more than €11 billion. In Europe alone, removing plastic waste from beaches and coasts is estimated to cost around €630 million every year.
Plastic pollution also presents risks to human health. Microplastics can make their way into food and through the human body and have even been found in the human placenta and breastmilk.
Recent research suggests that the levels of microplastics in our brains could be rising rapidly too. Studies show microplastics accumulate in organs and can lead to biological changes, including inflammation.
One analysis of studies found suspected human health risks from microplastic exposure in three body systems: digestive, reproductive, and respiratory.
“The smaller particles [of microplastics] mean there’s a higher likelihood they can interfere with biological functions,” says Buzzi.
The effects on the environment are also caused by events further up the lifecycle of plastics. Buzzi says processes and extracting the resources needed to produce plastic also use fossil fuels.
She says: “Plastic has a range of impacts all along the life cycle, and degrades throughout its use, production and recycling phase, so it releases microplastics that also contribute to pollution levels.”
Research is ongoing, Buzzi says, but there isn’t yet peer-reviewed evidence regarding the exact levels of plastic pollution exposure that pose risks to human health.
However, scientists recommend that action is taken to slow down our exposure to prevent long-term effects.
Microplastics aren’t the only risk associated with plastics. Phthalates – chemicals that are added to plastics – have been linked to a higher risk of preterm birth, and scientists warn that exposure can affect the immune and reproductive systems.
What are the solutions to plastic problems?
The global aim of reducing plastic pollution is to move towards the principles of a circular economy for plastic, which will fuel the nascent trend, in Europe at least, of a higher uptake of recycled materials and a decrease in plastic consumption.
This means ending plastic pollution will require huge innovations and improvements in waste management systems to improve the capacity to process plastic waste, many experts say.
The initial important step is being able to consistently and effectively differentiate between plastic waste and scrap plastic for secondary production, to ensure that plastic waste doesn’t end up sitting in dump sites or floating in oceans and rivers, says Rob Delink, senior economist at the OECD.
“The first major thing we need to do is tease out more clearly the composition of waste, and to what extent we can recover plastics or energy,” he says.
In recent years, technologies have been emerging to help tackle plastic pollution at the source, including systems to collect and remove plastic waste from oceans and rivers, using methods such as passive drift systems and autonomous surface vessels, to trap and collect plastic debris.
Additionally, there has been a growing focus on technologies that can plastic waste. Many technologies are emerging to help prevent plastic waste, such as Ecobricks which allows people to repurpose plastic waste into building blocks and plastic roads, which incorporate recycled plastic waste into the asphalt mix.
Internal cooperation is also central to improving waste management because the capacity to handle plastic waste differs widely between countries, Delink says.
Making sure that less waste needs collecting, and investing in recycling more waste and improving sorting practices, is the best approach environmentally, he says.
If we don’t close the tap of producing more plastics, waste management systems might be overstretched.
However, Delink adds, we won’t be able to end plastic pollution if we only look at the end product.
“In Dutch, we have a saying: mopping with the tap open,” he says. “If we don’t close the tap of producing more plastics, waste management systems might be overstretched.”
For example, not all biodegradable plastics can be composted in the same way, which can present financial restrictions for some recycling plants. In addition, these materials only degrade in specific conditions which means they can be just as polluting to marine life.
The higher costs of some plastic alternatives can be prohibitive for consumers – but Deling points out, that this is largely because plastics are artificially cheap by ignoring impacts on the environment.
However, developing alternatives to plastic, and knowing how to nudge consumers’ behaviour, will require more clarity around alternatives to plastic, experts argue.
It isn’t as simple as swapping plastic for alternatives, says Deling, because the environmental impact of substitutes isn’t always zero.
“What’s missing is the decision about what impacts we’re talking about, and the lifecycle impact of alternatives, such as glass,” he says.
“Glass is good for reuse, but if you only reuse it once (and) then discard it, the impact is even higher. We need to understand the full lifecycle of substitutes for plastic.
“We do need alternatives, but we need to be careful we don’t substitute something bad with something worse.”
Buzzi emphasises that it isn’t enough to just switch from single-use plastics to alternatives.
“We need to move to new systems to ensure whatever materials we’re using will be reused multiple times,” she says.
“When we look at waste and what use we can make of it – recycling or energy recovery – a lot will depend on how it’s been designed and what materials it contains.”
It’s important, she adds, to support innovation into producing plastics that are easier to manage and less harmful to the environment, and enable some of the solutions we want to see later on in the lifecycle.
“We’ve had 50, 60 years of plastic, and countless types of plastic and chemicals have additives in them,” she says.
Will we ever see an end to plastic pollution?
The production of plastic has grown exponentially since the 1950s, and in recent years, governments around the world have made efforts to curb plastic pollution. But there’s a growing recognition of the importance of international cohesion in this regard.
And while there’s more and more innovation allowing plastic to be repurposed, experts say there is a long way to go until there is something resembling a circular economy for plastics in place internationally.
Reducing the amount and impact of plastic pollution requires significant action across the lifecycle of plastic, including manufacturers, retailers and consumers. But while there is a long way to go, some experts are optimistic that we could have a future without plastic pollution.
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The UK’s Climate Change Act (2008) requires the government to propose regular, legally-binding milestones on the pathway to achieving net zero greenhouse gas emissions.
Head of Climate and Energy Policy at the ESA, Charlotte Rule, said “without dramatic improvements to recycling performance and residual waste reduction, any other measures we take to reduce emissions associated with waste will be fighting an uphill battle”.
Most plastics don’t degrade; they fragment into microplastics and nanoplastics, which are having detrimental effects on human, animal and planetary health.