The production of plastics has increased dramatically in recent decades and continues to rise. Worldwide, it is now over 400 million tons per year. That equates to 50kg per person. [Statista; The world is flooded with plastic waste]
Source: Statista
https://www.statista.com/chart/32385/global-plastic-waste-production-by-application/
Almost half of this production goes to the packaging industry, especially single-use plastics. Less than 10% of global plastic production comes from recycled plastic. [ Plastic Europe; Plastics – the fast Facts 2024 ]
Global plastics production 2023:
[Own illustration, source data: Plastic Europe; Plastics – the fast Facts 2024 ]
Things are no better in Europe and Germany. The myth that we Germans are world champions in recycling is still circulating, but we are one of the largest per capita consumers in the world and only achieve a 16% recycling rate. [ Plastkatlas; p.36 ]
Almost 70% of our German plastic waste is incinerated (used for energy), 14% is shipped (mostly to Malaysia) and only 16% is recycled. Export to other countries in particular often leads to major problems for the global environment, wildlife and for us humans.
However, in order to get these problems at the end of the chain under control, the biggest lever lies at the root of all the evil: the gigantic quantities of production. Even though Asia produces the most plastic in the world [ Plastic Atlas; p. 14 ], it can be seen that it is mainly the higher-income countries that produce the most plastic/plastic waste. With the USA at the top, Germany also always comes in the top places in the studies. In this study in Science Advances, the scientists correctly refer to the total plastic waste and come up with 130kg/capita/year for the USA and 88kg/capita/year for Germany. [ Plastic, garbage and me; p. 25&26 ] We remember the pure production of 50kg/capita/year on average worldwide.
But what are the problems with plastic waste anyway?
In addition to the visible problems such as polluted beaches and seas, the garbage threatens our environment, wildlife and us humans ourselves. In addition, only 0.5% (0.4 million tons) of plastic waste floats on the sea surface, the rest is distributed on the seabed or under the sea surface in the open sea (86 million tons). [ Plastic Atlas; p.29 ]
Problems for our environment:
- Microplastics are largely found in our soil and groundwater and sometimes contain disease-causing chemicals.
- The plastic production, processing and disposal chain causes almost 5% of global CO2 emissions. 41.6 billion tons of CO2 globally, 1800 million tons of plastic chain. [ Plastic Atlas; p.27 ]
- By 2050, at current rates, plastic production will account for about 20% of global oil consumption . [ European Environment Agency ]
Problems for our wildlife:
- Nets, bags, etc. in the water lead to strangulation and suffocation for many marine animals such as turtles, whales, dolphins, seals, and many more.
- Larger plastic parts such as bottle caps are mistaken for food by seabirds, causing the birds to starve. Land animals such as cows, goats and sheep also die from plastic waste.
- Smaller plastic particles, including microplastics (smaller than 5mm), are ingested by fish, and very fine microplastics are even ingested by crabs and mussels and end up in their organs.
- Corals are suffocated by plastic waste or become infected with pathogens.
All the influences in the environment and animal world naturally also affect us humans. We absorb plastics through food, water and also through the air, which means that plastics have already been found in all organs and can lead to illnesses, especially through additives and unknown chemicals in the plastic. (Incidentally, most microplastics are created by tire abrasion and paints/colors.) In addition, plastic production uses up a large part of our oil reserves and contributes significantly to global warming.
Reduse - Reuse - Recycle
The biggest lever is to reduce production. We urgently need a global UN plastics agreement that restricts production worldwide (global bans on single-use plastics and production limits), supports recycling, regulates chemicals and provides support for developing countries. The agreement, which has been under negotiation since 2022, has been repeatedly blocked since then, especially by oil-producing countries such as Saudi Arabia, Russia and the USA, as plastics production is closely linked to the oil industry and is being planned even more strongly due to falling demand in the energy sector (due to the increase in renewable energies).
Another lever: plastic/packaging tax. Corporations such as Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Nestle and Unilever, which put huge amounts of plastic packaging into the world, should have to pay for the amount of plastic produced, making the switch to glass, or even reusable glass, aluminum, 100% recycled material or cardboard more attractive. Furthermore, deposit systems must be expanded globally, reusable packaging must become more attractive and subsidies for fossil plastics must be removed.
As with the carbon footprint, the oil companies and states are trying to shift the blame onto the consumer. But the plastic waste problem originates from the large plastic companies such as ExxonMobil, BASF, DOW, ENI and INEOS.
Nevertheless, the consumer side also has small to medium-sized levers up its sleeve. We can campaign for change through protests, petitions ( https://act.greenpeace.de/plastik-abkommen ) or the EXIT PLASTIK manifesto .
Furthermore, we can support packaging-free shops (especially those that can afford it and have one nearby), switch to reusables, do without ToGo or take containers with us (since 2003, the Packaging Act has required restaurateurs to fill food and drinks into containers brought with them in addition to reusable containers).
Many packaging options have a glass alternative, such as for yoghurt, drinks or spreads. Or cardboard and aluminum, for example for chocolate. In addition, multi-layer packaging such as most cold cuts packaging and tetra packs should be avoided as far as possible, as these are generally not recyclable.
If there is no plastic alternative, the most recyclable packaging is one colour and does not have welded-on foil or stickers or adhesives that are difficult to remove. Black packaging also causes problems at the increasing number of modern recycling plants, which cannot scan black because it hardly reflects.
Another big problem is all the plastic fibers in our textiles. The mix with non-plastic fibers makes recycling more difficult, and many plastic fibers also end up in the wastewater when we wash them.
Repair
Another small lever is the repair of defective plastic parts. Of course, a more stable design at the beginning of the chain is even more effective. However, defective plastic products can be repaired by gluing, melting or using metal reinforcements and this is more common in vehicle, furniture, construction or household goods products and less so in packaging.
recycling utopia
If the options mentioned above were implemented drastically along the chain, the ideal scenario would be that only the plastic that cannot be avoided would have to be recycled. ;)