Question & Confirm Blog

question: Plastic waste – how big of a problem is it?

2/8/2021

Plastic is everywhere in our lives, but just how much of it are we using? And where is it all going when we are done with it?

Global Plastics Production

SOURCE: OECD

Plastic Waste Generation, per person, 2016

SOURCE: World Bank Group

Plastic Waste Generation, by country, 2016

SOURCE: World Bank Group

This is total plastic waste generation, and does not account for differences in waste management. The graph below shows how we are disposing of our plastic and how methods have changed over time.

Global Plastic Waste, by Disposal Method (1980 to 2015)

SOURCE: Our World In Data

An increase in recycling is of course a good thing. However the first graph shows the increase in plastic production is outpacing our increased recycling. The question is how do we decrease our plastic waste?
The Canadian Federal government recently announced the intent to ban certain single use plastics by the end of 2021, including checkout bags, cutlery, straws. In my opinion this is a step in the right direction, but will it move the needle on our plastic waste? I think there is more to be done – perhaps regulations on packaging?

What do you think? How do we improve our plastic waste situation?

Greg link

3/7/2021 04:30:15 pm

Fascinating topic. A number of thoughts come to mind. First, we must do a MUCH better job of keeping plastics out of the ocean. The gyre! Second, my understanding is that of all recycling programs, plastic is one of the most successful. Where it's economic, YES economic, plastic recycling makes great sense. But what about when it's not economic? I often debate this with my sister who is a packaging minimalist. I'm supportive of minimal packaging but as with all situations, there are other complexities to consider. Packaging prevents product damage and extends shelf life. Too little packaging can result in a tremendous waste of food or discard of damaged goods.

Now for my bold assertion; the only reason we are short of landfills is that we place them close to cities to keep costs low. What if we simply make wasting and discarding more expensive but sending trash by rail to an old open pit mine somewhere very remote? There would be a natural market incentive to use less packaging (ie. each bag of garbage costs you $75) and trash mega sites could perhaps be better equipped for leachate and monitoring and could be sited in the lowest environmental risk place possible (non-permable rock). If we look at the volume of trash in landfills relative to the earth's crust volume, it's essentially zero. The issue is how to reduce our garbage volume per person and how to store (dispose) of that trash in the best possible way for our environment.

Mink Foodiee link

6/30/2021 06:13:50 am

Hello! I just would like to give huge thumbs up for the great info you have here on this post. I will be coming back to your blog for more soon.

Dublin Rubbish Removal Service link

8/17/2021 07:56:03 am

Fascinating topic. I love this data!

Comments are closed.