The silent rise of the plastic crisis

Translated by Martina Ravasi

How to counter an insidious global threat

Plastic is the symbolic material of our area. It's lightweight, cheap, ductile, and apparently essential. However, today its omnipresence unveils its dark side.

We can find plastic in cities and oceans, in the far away seabed and on the highest peaks, as well as in packings, clothes, cosmetics, medical devices and even in the air that we breathe. Plastic has even entered our food, water and vital organs of our bodies in the form of microplastics – particles that are less than 5 mm long. The plastic crisis isn’t just an environmental one, since unfortunately we’re not exaggerating if it is defined as a sanitary, climatic, economic and political crisis. 

Global production of plastic continues to increase

According to some reliable reports, global production of plastic has increased by 13% in the last five years, and if we don’t change course, it will reach 690 million tons by 2040 compared to 450 million in 2025. Over the same period, plastic pollution could more than double, rising from 130 to 280 million tons – the equivalent of a rubbish truck being unloaded every second for a whole year. This is the brutal picture of an economic model that produces more waste than it’s able to handle.

The issue arises from two decisive features – quantity and quality

Glass and paper can pollute, while plastic remains with the passing of time although it’s fragmented. Moreover, burning plastic produces highly toxic substances and recycling it is mostly hard. Indeed, today just a little percentage of it is effectively recycled and getting rid of it requires dumps that our planet can't increase to infinity.

A large amount of our waste isn’t even picked up, and it ends up in streets, fields, rivers, lakes and seas, thus damaging our ecosystem while animals may eat it. Therefore, although it was conceived to simplify our lives, plastic risks being a permanent infrastructure of deterioration.

The increasing quantity...

Governments are currently trying to manage the increasing quantity of plastic waste by burning, recycling or throwing it in dumps. However, neither of these solutions can prevent our planet from being submerged by plastic. Burning plastic releases toxic chemical substances into the atmosphere and leaves behind plenty of toxic ash.

Most plastic can’t be easily recycled through current technologies. Therefore, just 9% of it is effectively recycled. And our planet doesn’t have enough dumps. As a result, today almost 90 million tons of plastic waste isn’t never picked up – which corresponds to 19% of the totality. This figure is expected to increase up to 240 million tons by 2040.

This waste mustn’t end up in streets, fields, forests, lakes or oceans, since animals often eat it and the result is that they’re wounded or they die. It's almost sure that this situation will worsen due to the increase in the production of plastic in the next years. According to official estimations, the production of plastic is doubling compared to our capacity of waste management.

Annual costs for pickup and dismantlement of plastic waste at a global level will reach 140 billion dollars by 2040. Additionally, plastic production, as well as its dismantlement and pollution, may globally cost the equivalent of 9.8 million years of healthy human lives.

Microplastics

Microplastics are even more insidious, since they’re almost invisible and are difficult to pick up. Moreover, they spread everywhere – in the air, in oceans and in living organisms.

The main sources of microplastics are tyres, paintings, recycling processes, agriculture, clothes, industrial pallets and self-care products. Without any intervention, their contribute to general pollution will increase again by 2040. Given that today an efficient, cheap and safe system to dismantle them once they’re scattered is still missing, the real challenge is earlier in the process through better product projects as well as replacing problematic materials and reducing their overuse. Lastly, it’s necessary to avoid that microplastic substances are created.

Plastic affects climate too

Plastic production and transport, as well as its stock, incineration and dismantlement require energy and generate greenhouse gas emissions. If the plastic global system were a State, it would be one of the major polluters in the world. Following the current course of action would mean put pressure on the climate crisis which is already off the carts.

However, our future isn’t determined. Solutions already exist

It is estimated that plastic pollution can be reduced by 83% in the next 15 years through already existing policies and technologies. The course of action needs precise steps, such as limiting useless or hard-to-recycle plastic, improve its pickup and dismantlement as well as making chemical substances safer and protect those workers who are responsible for most of the recycling economy.

We aren’t stepping back; it’s a matter of making modernity cleverer. On one hand, plastic is essential under certain points of view. On the other hand, we can do without it since it is badly designed or perfectly replaceable. Governments and companies can opt for recycled materials and packing, long-lasting products and less toxic supply chains. Additionally, they can forbid or limit harmful substances, such as bisphenols, phthalates, and persistent compounds. Moreover, they can shift the focus from disposable items to reuse-and-regenerate items.

Nevertheless, due to the size of the problem, international cooperation is necessary. Nobody can get rid of plastic by themselves, since plastic moves through goods, rivers, oceans and global value chains. For this reason, a UN global treaty and ongoing regional activities are crucial. Some European initiatives such as eliminating intentionally added microplastics as well as high-dispersion tyres and industrial pellets are a good example of this. Although these initiatives aren’t enough, they show the course of action we should take. Plastic mustn't be treated as a waste to chase, but a system to reshape from the very beginning until the end.

The economic objection isn’t long-lasting. For sure transition requires investments, including products design, changing materials and realize new distribution systems. However, benefits are higher than costs.

Reducing pollution drastically would imply cutting down on billion dollars in waste management and emissions, as wells as decreasing health damage and create million jobs in reusing and recycling. Lastly, another benefit would include creating new markets to those companies which are capable of investments. In this case, sustainability isn’t a sacrifice, since it’s a deviation of the course of actions leading to environmental, health and economic benefits.

However, time seems to be the decisive variable

Every year costs and waste increase, thus making the reduction of microplastics and persistent environmental pollutants harder.

Plastic shaped the 20th century and a part of our current wellness. However, it mustn’t become the toxic legacy of the 21st century. In this regard, we have two options: continuing producing plastic as if the earth were a bottomless dump or turning a silent crisis into a huge occasion to show our collective intelligence.

Our future starts with reducing useless plastic, recycling and more responsibilities.

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