PHM-Exch> Recycling Isn’t Enough to Tackle the World’s Worsening Plastic Pollution Crisis

[Claudio Schuftan]

From: Other News <news at other-net.info>



*Recycling Isn’t Enough to Tackle the World’s Worsening Plastic Pollution
Crisis*

*By Jerri-Lynn Scofield / nakedcapitalism.com <http://nakedcapitalism.com>*

October 20, 2020 -  Jerri-Lynn here. Maybe the message is finally getting
through. Recycling alone isn’t going to solve the world’s plastic problem.
We simply must stop making and using the stuff. Now. That’s the best
solution we currently have. Magical thinking wont’t cut it.
By Stephanie B. Borrelle, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Ecology and
evolutionary biology, University of Toronto. Originally published at The
Conversation.
Plastic production and consumption has snowballed since large-scale
production began in the 1950s. In 2020, an estimated 24 million to 34
million tonnes of plastic waste will enter the world’s lakes, rivers and
oceans. That is roughly the weight of 21,000 rail locomotives.
And if trends continue without improvements in the way we manage plastic
waste, we could be spewing as much as 90 million tonnes of plastic waste
into the world’s waters by 2030. Already, an estimated 10,000 tonnes of
plastic waste enter the Great Lakes every year.
Back in 2015, the world agreed that eight million tonnes of plastic waste
contaminating the ocean alone was unacceptable. Several international
platforms emerged to address the crisis, including Our Ocean, the UN
Sustainable Development Goals and the G7 Ocean Plastic Charter, among
others.
These are ambitious commitments, but will they meaningfully reduce plastic
pollution?
New research published in Science shows that even if governments around the
world adhere to their global commitments to address plastic pollution, and
all others join in these efforts, in 2030 we will still emit between 20
million and 53 million tonnes of plastic waste into the world’s aquatic
ecosystems. Global commitments do not match the scale of the problem — we
need to rethink our strategy.
The Myth of Plastic Recycling
Plastics are commonly tossed into mixed-recycling bins to be conveniently
collected and — we incorrectly assume — remade anew. The reality is that
we’re “wishcycling.” In fact, less than 10 per cent of plastics are
recycled.
Virgin plastics are cheaper to produce than recycled products, undermining
the viability of the recycling sector. For example, in 2019, California’s
largest recycling plant closed, laying off 750 employees, because of
increased business costs and falling prices for recycled materials.
The abundance of disposable plastic has led to waste colonialism — the
dumping of large quantities of mixed-plastic waste in developing countries,
most commonly Southeast Asia.
These practices are fuelled by policies that harken back to European
colonization of the Americas. They give companies access to the raw
materials used to make plastics today — oil and ethane gas — often without
approval, and that directly endanger the lives of Indigenous women.
Unequal Health Impacts
Across the globe, health problems associated with plastics production
disproportionately affect lower-income Black, Indigenous, people of colour
(BIPOC) communities. That’s because the bulk of the petrochemical plants
producing plastics are located in communities of colour.
Thousands of toxic chemicals are used in plastics production and most are
unregulated. Bisphenol A (BPA), banned from many consumer plastics, has
simply been replaced with other bisphenols such as BPS or BPF, even though
they maybe as hazardous to human health. Subsequently, plastics workers
suffer high rates of respiratory and cardiovascular disease and cancers.
It’s no coincidence that Louisiana, a hotbed for the petrochemical sector,
is the epicentre of what is known as “Cancer Alley.” Perhaps a more
appropriate name would be
“Cardiovascular-respiratory-illness-reproductive-disorder-cancer Alley.”
BIPOC communities have been overburdened with pollution for decades, and
air pollution from petrochemical plants is a leading cause of chronic
respiratory illnesses contributing to greater risks of morbidity from
diseases like COVID-19.
Globally, plastic waste treatment facilities (collection, sorting,
processing, recycling, incineration facilities and landfill sites) are
frequently located in communities of colour, exacerbating negative health
outcomes.
An estimated 15 million waste pickers worldwide pluck the most valuable
pieces of plastic from mountains of imported waste to make their living.
Often the remaining plastic is burned, belching carbon-rich smoke into the
atmosphere. Everyone unfortunate enough to be in its plume inhales
carcinogenic furans and dioxins. Plastics that aren’t burned or processed
are piled high or buried, contaminating previously arable soils and
waterways.
What Does Genuine Progress Look Like?
Progress requires us to address the structural inequality that encourages
and normalizes the waste of resources, ecological destruction and the
perpetuation of colonial systems.
Progress requires decolonial policies, where justice and equity are
prioritized. That means the equitable investment in effective collection,
sorting, cleaning, reuse, repair and recycling infrastructure, where BIPOC
don’t carry the burden of pollution.
It requires policies that dissuade the unabated extraction of resources and
ensure companies are responsible for the life cycle of their plastic
products. This would include abolishing US$296 billion in subsidies
provided annually by governments to petrochemical companies and introducing
laws that require companies to pay for waste collection, recycling or
disposal, rather than taxpayers.
Quantifying the scale and extent of plastic pollution helps us understand
the kind of effort needed to make change, but just as vital is mapping the
health, economic, cultural and human rights dimensions of this toxic
industry.
By rallying for policies that tackle the underlying structures that
perpetuate the plastic pollution crisis, we can reverse inequality, fulfil
human rights obligations, improve the health of all communities and prevent
and mitigate ecological damage. Policies like the Green New Deal are moving
us in the right direction, but we need to do more.
If ever there was a time to redefine the business-as-usual plastics
industry and transition to a healthy and more equitable global society, it
is now.


*By Jerri-Lynn Scofield / nakedcapitalism.com <http://nakedcapitalism.com>*



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