Single-use plastics were revolutionary. Not only were they a convenience to consumers, they improved the standards of hygiene. However, they have also saturated the world’s coastlines and clogged landfills. It has been estimated that 79 percent of all plastic ever produced is now in a dump, a landfill, or somewhere in the environment, and only 9 percent has been recycled.

When plastic first started being manufactured on a commercial scale in the 1950s, people viewed it as something incredible. They had a point. It was used for phones, computers, and any electrical wiring. It is responsible for the widespread availability of commercial electronics. Plastic is light, water resistant, heat insulating, and durable. It’s also very cheap to make. The starting ingredient is raw organic material from petroleum, natural gas, or dead plant matter. This is refined, purified, and converted into, carbon-based chemicals. These chemicals can be linked together to create plastic.

The pollution resulting from single-use plastics is a catastrophe that demands a global response, now. Over one third of plastic is made for single use, most of it being wasted within a year of manufacture. Where does this thrown-away plastic go?

Plastic packaging is clogging city sewer systems, which leads to flooding. Abandoned plastic goods create breeding grounds for mosquitoes, and can leach toxic additives when they decompose. Single-use plastics are killing birds and harming marine life. Roughly 8 million tons of it enter the oceans each year. But how does it get into the ocean? Humans. Whether we mean to litter or not, there’s always a chance that the plastic we throw away could make it into the sea. We need to take responsibility for our actions.

Sea turtles and other marine creatures get tangled up in netlike plastic waste, but micro-plastics present serious issues, too. Micro-plastic can harm animals of all sizes, from whales to scallop, and plastic fragments are small enough that even plankton can consume them. They get trapped in the gills and digestive tracts of hundreds of animal species and can cause serious harm, even death.

In October 2018 the European Union Parliament approved a ban on several single-use plastic items by 2021, and they also want to reduce plastic in food packaging by 25 percent by 2025. In the summer of 2018, Starbucks and McDonald’s both announced plans to phase out single-use plastic straws. Following the European Union’s announcement to ban all single-use plastics by 2021, 250 major brands such as Nestle and Coca-Cola have announced they’ll do the same by 2025.

Plastic has revolutionised our society. It can work in the environment’s benefit. Cars and planes partly made of plastic are much lighter, which reduces the amount of fossil fuels required to run them. Many solar panels have protective plastic layers, and wind turbines’ blades are often made of lightweight, reinforced plastic. If we can be clever about how we use plastic, cognoscente of its negative impact on the environment, and find an alternative to the waste materials, perhaps we could reverse these consequences.

 

 

 

 

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Image courtesy of Brian Yurasits via Unsplash

 

 

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