Plastic waste is a huge problem. It has a very low recycling rate, so it usually ends up in landfills. Recently, countries such as India and France have taken a stand and put a ban on plastic utensils, food packaging, and other commonly-used plastic materials. Even with all the new precautions and bans, the plastic dilemma will still be a huge obstacle in keeping environments safe around the globe. Plastics should be banned and replaced with alternatives – and here’s why.
In 2018, out of the two billion tons of solid waste, 275 million tons was plastic waste, all of it generated by human beings. If the world’s population were to double by 2050, global waste would increase by seventy percent. Now more than ever, the problems with plastic are growing rapidly, bringing more and more waste into landfills, oceans, and just about everywhere else on the planet.
According to an article in BBC Future, of the plastic waste we produce each year, “packaging is the largest source.” In 2015, people produced a whopping 141 million tons of plastic packaging waste. Add to that: the second largest contributor to plastic waste, plastic textile waste, comprised a total of 42 million tons of garbage. Although there are many countries that do recycle their plastic waste, looking at the bigger picture, only nine percent of plastic waste can be recycled globally.
You think the problem sounds bad enough? Well, think again. Plastic pollution and waste are not only dangerous for the environment, they also pose a serious risk to human health. Environmental plastic pollution has been linked to cancers, hormone disruption, and even a loss of fertility. According to BBC Future, “Plastics leach a class of chemical called endocrine disruptors, which can block or change how hormones are used in our bodies. Plastics are sometimes coated with polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) – often referred to as ‘forever chemicals’ – which have been linked to several diseases.” This means that plastic can damage more than just plants, animals, oceans, and landfills – it can also harm human beings.
Not only is plastic everywhere, but it’s also cheap. In fact, plastic is so cheap that most people don’t have a second thought about throwing it away. But when they do throw it away, the consequences are not pretty. Almost everyone who uses it throws their plastic waste in the trashcan (not the recycling bin), thinking this is as normal as brushing your teeth before bed. But once the plastic reaches a landfill, it stays there for a very, very long time.
As you can see, plastic pollution is a serious human challenge. It destroys the environment—most especially the world’s oceans—and it threatens our health. But what most people don’t realize is this: items targeted by environmental activists, such as plastic drinking straws and cling wraps, play only a small part in the plastic dilemma. There are many, many other contributors to plastic waste; too many to list in a short essay like this one. Even though India has banned plastic straws and other plastic utensils, and France has prohibited the use of plastic food wraps on fresh produce, preventing further plastic pollution will always be a huge challenge.
Despite the toll plastic has taken on our environment and on our health, it can still be useful. One of the most helpful uses of plastic is sheltering food. With plastic wraps, your food stays safe and is preserved for a longer period of time. “Plastic can sometimes be the best option, especially in the food industry. Film wraps and plastic bags that seal food [like cucumber wraps] preserve the quality of the food and are lightweight options,” says Romane Osadnik, an account manager at CITEO, a non-profit French company founded to “reduce the impact of packaging materials.” “Plastic is most commonly replaced with cardboard but food can be damaged more easily in cardboard, causing more food waste in transport, and it weighs much heavier [which] means in turn that more lorries are needed to carry the same quantity of product. Transport weighs heavily in the life cycle of food. In the end it often turns out to be more polluting to use cardboard wrapping than plastic, when the entire food production chain is taken into account.” But what happens afterwards? What happens to plastic wrappings after the food is eaten? Most people will throw them away, sending them straight to a landfill.
Environment-conscious people may attempt to reuse plastic bags, but that doesn’t always end well, either. If possible, we should find other materials to use in place of plastics.
All in all, even given the benefits plastics bring us, and the new bans and laws attempting to make a dent in plastic waste pollution, much more drastic measures need to be taken. We should find better and more recyclable materials and alternatives for plastic. In order to accomplish this, each of us should start by limiting our own use of plastics. Then, over time, we should make an effort to ban all plastics, and to discover innovative new substitutes for the plastics we use.
Sources: https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20220711-do-single-use-plastic-bans-work
In 2018, out of the two billion tons of solid waste, 275 million tons was plastic waste, all of it generated by human beings. If the world’s population were to double by 2050, global waste would increase by seventy percent. Now more than ever, the problems with plastic are growing rapidly, bringing more and more waste into landfills, oceans, and just about everywhere else on the planet.
According to an article in BBC Future, of the plastic waste we produce each year, “packaging is the largest source.” In 2015, people produced a whopping 141 million tons of plastic packaging waste. Add to that: the second largest contributor to plastic waste, plastic textile waste, comprised a total of 42 million tons of garbage. Although there are many countries that do recycle their plastic waste, looking at the bigger picture, only nine percent of plastic waste can be recycled globally.
You think the problem sounds bad enough? Well, think again. Plastic pollution and waste are not only dangerous for the environment, they also pose a serious risk to human health. Environmental plastic pollution has been linked to cancers, hormone disruption, and even a loss of fertility. According to BBC Future, “Plastics leach a class of chemical called endocrine disruptors, which can block or change how hormones are used in our bodies. Plastics are sometimes coated with polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) – often referred to as ‘forever chemicals’ – which have been linked to several diseases.” This means that plastic can damage more than just plants, animals, oceans, and landfills – it can also harm human beings.
Not only is plastic everywhere, but it’s also cheap. In fact, plastic is so cheap that most people don’t have a second thought about throwing it away. But when they do throw it away, the consequences are not pretty. Almost everyone who uses it throws their plastic waste in the trashcan (not the recycling bin), thinking this is as normal as brushing your teeth before bed. But once the plastic reaches a landfill, it stays there for a very, very long time.
As you can see, plastic pollution is a serious human challenge. It destroys the environment—most especially the world’s oceans—and it threatens our health. But what most people don’t realize is this: items targeted by environmental activists, such as plastic drinking straws and cling wraps, play only a small part in the plastic dilemma. There are many, many other contributors to plastic waste; too many to list in a short essay like this one. Even though India has banned plastic straws and other plastic utensils, and France has prohibited the use of plastic food wraps on fresh produce, preventing further plastic pollution will always be a huge challenge.
Despite the toll plastic has taken on our environment and on our health, it can still be useful. One of the most helpful uses of plastic is sheltering food. With plastic wraps, your food stays safe and is preserved for a longer period of time. “Plastic can sometimes be the best option, especially in the food industry. Film wraps and plastic bags that seal food [like cucumber wraps] preserve the quality of the food and are lightweight options,” says Romane Osadnik, an account manager at CITEO, a non-profit French company founded to “reduce the impact of packaging materials.” “Plastic is most commonly replaced with cardboard but food can be damaged more easily in cardboard, causing more food waste in transport, and it weighs much heavier [which] means in turn that more lorries are needed to carry the same quantity of product. Transport weighs heavily in the life cycle of food. In the end it often turns out to be more polluting to use cardboard wrapping than plastic, when the entire food production chain is taken into account.” But what happens afterwards? What happens to plastic wrappings after the food is eaten? Most people will throw them away, sending them straight to a landfill.
Environment-conscious people may attempt to reuse plastic bags, but that doesn’t always end well, either. If possible, we should find other materials to use in place of plastics.
All in all, even given the benefits plastics bring us, and the new bans and laws attempting to make a dent in plastic waste pollution, much more drastic measures need to be taken. We should find better and more recyclable materials and alternatives for plastic. In order to accomplish this, each of us should start by limiting our own use of plastics. Then, over time, we should make an effort to ban all plastics, and to discover innovative new substitutes for the plastics we use.
Sources: https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20220711-do-single-use-plastic-bans-work
