Worldwide plastic production has
been growing as the durable, primarily petroleum-based material gradually
replaces materials like glass and metal. Today, an average person living in
Western Europe or North America consumes 100 kilograms of plastic each year,
mostly in the form of packaging. Asia uses just 20 kilograms per person, but
this figure is expected to grow rapidly as the region's economies expand.
According to the United Nations
Environmental Programme, an estimated 22-43 percent of the plastic used
worldwide is disposed of in landfills, where its resources are wasted, the
material takes up valuable space, and it blights communities. Recovering plastic
from the waste stream for recycling or for combustion for energy generation has
the potential to minimize these problems. However, much of the plastic
collected for recycling in Europe, the United States, Japan, and other
industrialized countries is shipped to countries with lower recycling
standards. And burning plastic for energy requires air emissions controls and
produces hazardous ash, all while being relatively inefficient.
Most plastic scraps from countries
that have established collection systems for the material flow to China, which
receives 56 percent (by weight) of waste plastic imports worldwide. Indirect
evidence suggests that most of this imported plastic is reprocessed at
low-tech, family-run facilities with no environmental protection controls, such
as proper disposal of contaminants or waste water. There are also concerns that
low-quality plastics are not reused but are disposed of or incinerated for
energy in plants that lack air pollution control systems. Through its 2010
Green Fence Operation, the Chinese government has started to work to reduce the
number of unregulated facilities.
Approximately 10-20 million tons of
plastic end up in the oceans each year. A recent study conservatively estimated
that 5.25 trillion plastic particles weighing a total of 268,940 tons are
currently floating in the world's oceans. This debris results in an estimated
$13 billion a year in losses from damage to marine ecosystems, including
financial losses to fisheries and tourism as well as time spent cleaning
beaches. Animals such as seabirds, whales, and dolphins can become entangled in
plastic matter, and floating plastic items-such as discarded nets, docks, and
boats-can transport microbes, algae, invertebrates, and fish into non-native
regions, affecting local ecosystems.
The environmental and social
benefits of plastics must be weighed against the problems that the durability
and high volume of this material present to the waste stream. Plastics help to
reduce food waste by keeping products fresh longer, allow for the manufacture
of life-saving healthcare equipment, reduce packaging mass compared with other
materials, improve transportation efficiency, and have large potential for use
in renewable energy technologies. But plastic litter, gyres of plastics in the
oceans, and toxic additives in plastic products-including colorants, flame
retardants, and plasticizers (such as bisphenol A, or BPA)-are raising
awareness of and strengthening consumer demand for more sustainable materials.
Along with reducing unnecessary
plastic consumption, finding more environmentally friendly packaging
alternatives, and improving product and packaging design to use less plastic,
many challenges associated with plastics could be addressed by improving
management of the material across its life cycle.
Businesses and consumers could
increase their participation in collection in order to move plastic waste
toward a recovery supply chain, and companies could switch to greater use of
recycled plastics. Governments must regulate the plastic supply chain to
encourage and monitor recycling.
Report highlights:
- About 4 percent of the petroleum consumed worldwide each year is used to make plastic, and another 4 percent is used to power plastic manufacturing processes.
- In Europe, 26 percent, or 6.6 million tons, of the post-consumer plastic produced in 2012 was recycled, while 36 percent was incinerated for energy generation. The remaining 38 percent of post-consumer plastics in Europe went to landfills.
- In the United States, only 9 percent of post-consumer plastic (2.8 million tons) was recycled in 2012. The remaining 32 million tons was discarded.
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