“Our planet is drowning in plastic pollution.” While plastic has many valuable uses but addiction to single-use or disposable plastic comes with severe environmental consequences. Globally, one million plastic drinking bottles are in use per minute, while 5 trillion single-use plastic bags are in use worldwide per year. Out of all the plastic that was even made half of all plastic is getting its design to be single-use and then thrown away.
Researchers predicted that more than 8.3 billion tonnes of plastic pollution came in since the early 1950s. Approximately 60% of that plastic has ended up in either a landfill or the natural environment.
Since the 1950s, the rate of plastic production has grown faster than that of any other material. We are also seeing a shift away from the production of durable plastic and towards single-use. Approxmently 99% of plastics are coming from chemicals that come from oil, natural gas, and coal — all of which are dirty, non-renewable resources. If these trends continue, by 2050 the plastic industry would consumption around 20% of the world’s total oil.
Only 9% of all plastic waste produced is recycled
These single-use plastic products are omnipresent. For most of the population, plastic pollution has become an integral part of daily lives. But only restricting plastic production will not be enough there is also a requirement to improve the waste management system.
Only 9% of all plastic waste produced is recycled. Roughly 12% has been incinerating, while the rest are landing up in landfills, dumps, or the natural environment. Cigarette butts whose filters contain small plastic fibers are the most common type of plastic waste in the environment in a recent global survey. Bottles, bottle caps, food wrappers, grocery bags, drink lids, straws, and stirrers are the second most common items. Many of these products are in use every day.
If this trend continues, the oceans would carry more plastic than fish by 2050. The volume of plastic waste production continues to grow. But the governments of several countries are starting to act.
There are several things that governments can do from running public awareness campaigns to offering incentives for recycling, to introducing taxes or even banning certain products. In the last decade, dozens of national and local governments around the world have adopted policies to reduce the use of disposable plastic. And the number continues to grow.