The world makes more than 400 million tons of new plastic each year, and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) estimates that it could increase by about 70 percent by 2040 if there is no meaningful change. A great deal of that plastic ends up in landfills or the environment.
Pollution isn’t the only problem, Plastics, made almost entirely from fossil fuels, are a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions. Plastics generated 3.4 percent – or 1.8 billion tons – of plant warming emissions across the globe in 2019, the United Nations said.
It is notoriously difficult to recycle plastics: only 6 percent of what is made gets recycled, according to the OECD. The reason is because different kinds of plastic cannot be recycled together, as they have different chemical compositions, making it costly and time-consuming, and requiring a lot of manual sorting.
Recent talks aimed at a global treaty to cut plastic pollution have been unproductive, with no agreement to meaningfully reduce the harms to human health and the environment that come with the millions of tons of plastic packaging and waste produced today.
As many as 100 countries sought caps on plastic production, but powerful oil-producing nations like Saudi Arabia and the United States of America, stood against it, arguing that the caps were unnecessary and a threat to their economies and industries.
That means efforts will be focused on improving recycling, reuse, and product design, which are what the powerful nations against plastic production caps or bans say are sufficient to address the problem.
The plastics industry says that innovations in material science are helping to incorporate more recycled plastics into products and enable more plastic products to be recyclable.
Presorting plastic waste is a lot to ask from consumers, and mechanical recycling involves steps that shed microplastics into the environment.
The aim should be to significantly reduce plastic production, use, and waste, but without a global treaty to cut production, we may have to find more determination and creativity in order to reduce the amount of plastic waste that goes into the environment, and even into our bodies. As one of the world’s biggest contributors to plastic waste, Filipino consumers, industry, and commerce will need to pitch in and be more conscientious when it comes to this ubiquitous pollutant that has become a part of our lives.*
