Over recent years, there has been a great deal of focus on “single-use” or “disposable” plastics. Items such as straws, plastic bags, drink bottles and food packaging designed for the purpose of being thrown away or recycled after performing one function one time fall into this category. These make up around half of the staggering 300 million tons of plastic produced each year.
In recent years, the UK government has enacted policies which aim to minimize the demand on these plastics, such as adding a fee for customers requesting plastic bags at retailers, or outright banning the inclusion of micro beads used in a number of products as well as the supply of straws, stirrers and cotton buds. These items are major culprits of environmental pollution and harm to wildlife and these policies are a fantastic step in the right direction. It is also worth noting that a number of brands are using more widely recycled plastics, or in some cases changing to completely compostable alternatives, however this is not yet enforced by any government.
Disposable plastics are made up of petroleum, however the nature of this resource means it is very difficult to break down for recycling purposes, meaning other materials and chemicals must be added in order for this to be possible. As a result of this and the recycling process itself, there are a limited number of items that recycled plastic can be used to create. Petroleum based plastic is not biodegradable and often finds its way into a landfill where it is buried, far from an ideal solution, or if not disposed of “correctly”, the plastics instead find their way into the ocean via waterways.
Although plastic will not decompose into natural substance like soil, it will break down into tiny particles after many years. During this degradation, it releases toxic chemicals, mainly additives that were used to shape and harden the plastic, breaking down under the suns UV radiation to form tiny microscopic fragments (“micro plastics”) which are now rampant in our food and water supplies. An estimated 51 trillion particles are estimated to be in the ocean, then eaten by plankton which in turn is eaten by fish, and eaten by larger marine life which ends up in dishes around the world.
Studies suggest that by being in the environment they have made their way into the food chain and ultimately inside every human on the plastic. Senior researcher Rolf Halden, director of the Arizona State University (ASU) Biodesign Center for Environmental Health Engineering states "We have detected these chemicals of plastics in every single organ that we have investigated" when examining tissue samples taken from the lungs, liver, spleen and kidneys of donated human cadavers. Another study found traces of the particles in the placentas from four healthy women who had normal pregnancies and births. Only about 4% of each placenta was analysed, with all the particles belonging to plastics that had been dyed blue, red, orange or pink and likely to have originally come from packaging, paints or cosmetics and personal care products. The toxic chemicals used alongside plastics are now being found in the bloodstream of most adults around the world, including BPA (used to make bottles transparent) and DEHP (makes plastics more flexible). Mounting evidence indicates that enough of these miniscule amounts of plastic may disrupt the endocrine system, which can cause cancer, infertility, birth defects, impaired immunity and many other ailments.
With these dangers to our environment and our health firmly acknowledged, it is clear more needs to be done about this problem than charging 5p for a bag. It’s obvious that we need to use less plastic, move towards environmentally sustainable products and services, but there are many considerations to make. The main difficulty is finding a material without the slew of problems plastics have, while still being as malleable yet hardy, and be sterile, light and most importantly cost-effective as they are. This is especially important for those items designed to be disposable, such as utensils and tools used for food, drink and medicine. This convenience also demands that the resources to produce it be readily available around the world and production has the capacity to be carried out rapidly and on a huge scale. Most importantly, the durability needs to be limited to the time the item is used, but then also be brittle enough to break down for recycling or composting without the need for harmful chemicals. Not only this, but whatever alternative is put forward, it must also minimize its impact on the environment over the long term for fear we might repeat our mistakes and find ourselves with the same problems in the future despite our best efforts. As an example, a recent study by the Ministry of Environment and Food of Denmark in 2018 found that the production of a single-use plastic bag required so little energy and produces far lower carbon dioxide emissions than a reusable cotton bag, you would need to use the cotton bag a staggering 7100 times before it would have a lower overall impact on the environment compared to the plastic bag.
So where does that leave us? Every year there are headlines of alternatives that arise, for instance bamboo is a promising alternative to disposable cutlery and straws due to its rapid growth and naturally antibacterial properties. The issue being it often isn’t grown in the West and requires import from countries such as China, adding a substantial mark-up to its carbon footprint, as well as attempts to “water-down” the products, bulking the bamboo with chemically formed resin and cornstarch becoming just as harmful to the environment. Likewise, companies claiming to have developed biodegradable plastic bags, marketed as “safe for animals to eat” are often shown to be just as damaging. “Studies have basically found out that the degradation of bioplastics in the guts of sea turtles is no different than plastic” says Richa Malik, the founder of the India-based start-up The Happy Turtle, which sells and advocates for alternatives to plastic.
Ultimately, it shows that a problem on the scale of plastic pollution is now so massive that action must be taken by governments and corporations, but the purchasing decisions you make every day have a part to play. If enough people make similar decisions based on shared values, it is those actions which determine which businesses thrive and which falter. Every person has an opportunity to encourage brands to invest in sustainable alternatives while prioritizing “the 5 R’s” in their own waste management. The phrase ‘Reduce, Reuse, Recycle’ was first used in a logo created for the USA’s first National Earth Day in 1970 and has been expanded upon to include the additional action of “Rot” and “Refuse". The 5 R’s framework will help eliminate waste from the very start with Refusal to use certain plastic products to begin with. It can help you make more realistic decisions by Reducing your use of these items you may realize aren’t necessary, it will motivate you to extend the lifespan of plastics you do use by Reusing them multiple times, even to the extent of repairing or in some cases donating. The most ubiquitous way we should all be doing by now is Recycling our used plastics and finally composting any other waste that can biodegrade, allowing it to Rot.
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