*[Enwl-eng] How plastic heats the planet
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Wed May 31 19:41:18 MSK 2023
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Plastic waste, when it appears on the surface of the sea or at the
side of a road, is a problem that's easy to recognise. Much more plastic is
made each year than can be safely absorbed by the systems built to recycle
it, and the result is mounting pollution. Talks are under way in Paris this
week to agree the terms of an international treaty which could do something
about this issue.
What is often overlooked, however, is the plastic industry's role in
fuelling climate change. A study published in 2019 found that making, using
and disposing of plastic accounts for 3.8% of global greenhouse gas
emissions.
"That’s almost double the emissions of the aviation sector," says
Laurie Wright, a senior lecturer in sustainability at Solent University. "If
it were a country, the 'Plastic Kingdom' would be the fifth-highest emitter
in the world."
You're reading the Imagine newsletter – a weekly synthesis of academic
insight on solutions to climate change, brought to you by The Conversation.
I'm Jack Marley, energy and environment editor. This week we're discussing
what plastic pollution and climate change have in common.
Every stage of a plastic product's lifecycle can be a potential source
of climate-damaging emissions, Wright explains.
More than 99% of plastic starts life as petroleum or natural gas, and
is refined by the petrochemical industry using a process which releases
carbon dioxide and methane to form basic plastic building blocks such as
ethylene. Transporting this resin consumes fuel, and so also generates
emissions. These steps account for 61% of the total emissions originating
from plastic.
A further 30% is emitted while making the plastic bags, bottles and
other items we use each day. The remainder is released when plastic is
thrown away. It can take centuries for plastic to decompose and slowly
return its stored carbon (and other harmful chemicals) to the atmosphere.
But when this waste is incinerated, as a lot of landfill waste is, the
process is dramatically sped up.
Petrochemical firms at the plastic treaty negotiations favour an
agreement that would aim to recycle all of that waste. But researchers like
Cressida Bowyer, who studies plastic pollution at the University of
Portsmouth, are sceptical.
"Only 6-9% of all plastic ever produced has been sent for recycling,"
she says, writing with fellow Portsmouth academics Keiron Roberts and
Stephanie Northen.
"Although plastic and other waste is collected for recycling in most
countries, the amount of material that is remade into the same or similar
products (what is called closed-loop recycling) is extremely low.
"Only 2% of plastic waste is recycled in a closed loop and not turned
into something of lower quality, which is called downcycling. Recycling
cannot fully replace virgin material as it can only be recycled twice before
losing necessary properties, and so most recycling results in a downgraded
material that cannot be used for the same purpose."
Not only would ramping up recycling fail to curb the greenhouse gas
emissions from making all that plastic, attempting to recycle it could
create other kinds of pollution, the team point out. A recent study
highlighted how recycling facilities can release hundreds of tonnes of
microplastics each year. Another report showed how attempting to recycle
plastics containing toxic additives can contaminate subsequent batches.
Pascal Scherrer, a senior lecturer in environmental science at
Southern Cross University in Australia, argues that there are more reasons
to be wary of recycling as a supposed solution to the plastic problem.
"I explore opportunities to reduce plastic waste in sectors such as
tourism, hospitality and meat production," he says.
"I know how quickly we could make big changes. But I’ve also seen how
quick-fix solutions can create complex future problems. So we must proceed
with caution."
One example is swapping wood for recycled plastic. Trading a material
which would otherwise be a living tree keeping carbon out of the atmosphere
for something made from an abundant waste product sounds ideal. No wonder
benches, tables and bollards are increasingly made from recycled plastic.
But, Scherrer cautions, wood is at least biodegradable. Plastic, even
when it has been recycled, breaks down into smaller and smaller fragments
which now contaminate virtually every environment on Earth – including the
human blood stream.
Bowyer, Roberts and Northen suggest that the simplest solution to all
this pollution is also the best: stop making so much plastic in the first
place. Extending the lifespan of the average plastic item by reusing it can
also help reduce demand for more plastic.
"Manufacturers must stop making so much unnecessary plastic to reduce
the amount entering the economy," they say.
"There is no case for making plastics that are impossible to collect,
reuse or recycle, or are toxic. Yet they are abundant: think multilayered
sachets, thin films and wrappers. These should be phased out as a priority."
As with the fossil fuel industry and climate change, petrochemical
companies are unlikely to willingly make and sell less of their product to
reduce pollution. And the parallels between the two problems don't end
there, according to Deirdre McKay, a reader in geography and environmental
politics at Keele University.
"The environment appears to be drowning in plastic for the same reason
that global temperatures continue to rise – fossil fuels have remained cheap
and abundant," she says.
The advent of hydraulic fracturing (better known as fracking) to
acquire fossil fuels such as shale gas during the first decade of the 21st
century made the raw materials for plastic manufacturing significantly
cheaper, McKay explains. The result has been a glut of plastic packaging on
supermarket shelves that is difficult to recycle and overwhelmingly ends up
in landfill, incinerators – or the environment.
As oil demand wanes with the rise of electric vehicles, McKay warns
that fossil fuel companies will pivot to producing plastic instead – with
all the greenhouse gas emissions and other pollution such a move entails.
"Concern about plastic pollution isn’t distracting people from a more
serious problem – plastic is the problem. If we see plastics as 'solid
climate change', they become central to the climate crisis."
- Jack Marley, Environment commissioning editor
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Imagine.
Plastic recycling is failing – here’s how the world must respond
Making less plastic and reusing what exists should be the priority.
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Plastic warms the planet twice as much as aviation – here’s how to
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Read more
Plastic waste is hurting women in developing countries – but there
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Women and girls in low-income countries are disproportionately likely
to be affected by the plastic waste that's flooding our planet.
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Sent: Wednesday, May 31, 2023 8:02 PM
Subject: How plastic heats the planet
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