Plastic and the Environment

Plastics are everywhere. Durable objects are made of plastic, and plastic is used to package both perishable and durable objects. One can argue, in fact, that plastics are one of the defining creations of our economic system. Plastics are at the center of our culture of disposability: plastic items and plastic packaging are often intended for a single use, after which they are thrown away. In fact, approximately 40% of all plastics manufactured today are intended for a single use. Plastics are also one of the enduring creations of our economic system, unfortunately in a very literal sense. Plastics do not biodegrade, nor do they degrade easily or rapidly. Many plastic products can take hundreds of years to degrade.

What is plastic pollution?

Plastic pollution refers to the harmful effects of plastic products in the natural environment. There are three major categories of plastic pollution:

• The plastic objects themselves are sources of pollution.
• Weathering, the process whereby plastic degrades by breaking into smaller microparticles and then into microfibers. Such plastic particles have been found in all parts of the ocean, including in the Arctic and Antarctic Oceans.
• Decomposition, the process whereby toxins or toxic chemicals are released as plastic degrades.

Plastic pollution is most closely tied to plastic waste and the ways in which we dispose of plastic. And unfortunately, while recycling offers one means of reducing plastic pollution, it often itself is a source of plastic pollution. Much of the recycled plastics of the first world are sold to third world countries, which find themselves with more plastics than they can repurpose and recycle. This surplus of “recycled” plastics are then disposed of.

What is the United States’ contribution to plastic pollution?

A 2015 study found that the United States ranked twentieth internationally for its contribution to plastic pollution (and it would have ranked twenty-first if the countries of the European Union were considered as a single unit). However, the United States had by far the single highest per capita contribution to plastic pollution, with a rate of 2.58 kilograms per person per day.

The methodology of this study was questioned, however, because it ignored the source of original consumption and disposal of plastic waste. A 2020 study that adjusted for this bias found that the United States is the world’s leading contributor to plastic pollution both overall (with an estimated 42 million metric tons of plastic waste in 2016) and on a per capita basis (an estimated 130 kilograms per year). The countries of the EU taken collectively came in a relatively distant second.

What are the effects of plastic pollution?

Exactly how plastic pollution affects the environment depends on the exact form of pollution.

Whole plastic waste can trap or strangle wildlife or marine life. The classic example is the plastic bands used to package six-packs of beverage cans. Similarly, ghost nets – nets abandoned or lost by commercial fishing ventures – trap and strangle marine life, and especially larger marine creatures such as whales, sharks, seals, and otters.

Plastic microparticles and microfibers enter the water tables (thus affecting our water supply) and eventually end up in rivers and the oceans. In fact, they are found in abundance in such “pristine” waters as the Arctic Ocean and the Antarctic Ocean. When consumed by wildlife and marine species, they can block digestive tracts or pierce organs or, by packing their stomachs with indigestible plastics, lead to death through starvation.

Finally, both microparticles and the toxins released through plastic decomposition are known to cause tissue and cell damage and to disrupt reproductive cycles and harm reproductive systems.

Note that the effects of plastic pollution work their way up the food chain, as smaller organisms are consumed by larger ones, who necessarily also consume the plastic or the toxins of the smaller organisms.

What can we do about plastic pollution?

Each of us can act to ensure that our contribution to plastic pollution is as small as possible.

• Our everyday trash is one of the major contributors to plastic pollution. Such objects as milk cartons with plastic linings, disposable water bottles, soap with small plastic beads, and other plastic products end up in the landfills. We can make sure that we put recyclable plastics in recycling rather than in the trash. For more information, see Demystifying the Recycling of Plastics.
• Instead of single-use plastics, substitute durable plastics, glass, or porcelain. For example, we can:
  • Drink from reusable water bottles instead of disposable ones.
  • Stop using plastic straws. Instead, use either glass straws or no straw.
  • Use durable (and washable) plastic food storage bags instead of single-use bags.
• Use reusable bags when grocery shopping.
• Where a choice exists (such as for laundry detergents), choose cardboard boxes rather than plastic bottles.
• When disposing of six-pack rings, cut up the rings so that no piece is able to strangle an animal.
• Invest in a metal refillable lighter instead of plastic lighters.
• Speak to the owners of local restaurants, shops, or other businesses about environmentally friendly packaging and bagging options.
• Exert pressure on local, state, and federal officials to act to curb plastic pollution.