The Dark Truth Of Single-Use Plastics

Single-use plastics are small items like straws, bags and cutlery, which are difficult to recycle. In fact, nearly 95% of single-use plastic never gets recycled, with the vast majority ending up in landfills or the environment. Since the 1950s, 8.3 billion metric tons of plastic has been produced, choking our oceans, lakes and rivers and piling up on land.

Single-use plastics are difficult to recycle

The plastic that isn't recycled ends up in landfills or in the environment. Left alone, plastics don't break down; they just break up into smaller and smaller pieces, eventually becoming microplastics. These microplastics are hard to detect but are everywhere, including in our oceans, lakes, and rivers.

The incineration of plastic has been proven to be ineffective and hazardous to human health. Burning trash is one of the most expensive forms of energy generation in the US. Despite this, six times more plastic waste is burned in the United States than is recycled.

Billions of items of plastic waste are choking our planet and harming plants and wildlife. Since the 1950s, 8.3 billion metric tons of plastic have been produced. 79% of plastic that has ever been made still sits in landfills or the natural environment.

Plastic pollution is harmful to plants and wildlife

Microplastics, which are plastic particles less than five millimetres in size, are particularly harmful. They are found in every ecosystem on the planet, from the Antarctic tundra to tropical coral reefs. Microplastics can enter ecosystems through sewage, with 80-90% of plastic particles in sewage persisting in the sludge. They can also be released from larger pieces of plastic as they break down. These microscopic plastic fragments are hard to detect and are just about everywhere.

Microplastics can have long-term negative effects on ecosystems. They can release additives such as phthalates and Bisphenol A (BPA), which can disrupt the hormone systems of vertebrates and invertebrates. In higher climates, plastics can leach different chemicals such as fire retardants, parabens, and artificial dyes into soil and water systems.

Plastic pollution also affects wildlife directly. More than 700 species, including sea turtles, fish, and whales, eat plastic or get tangled up in it. Plastic is now found in drinking water and on our plates, and it will soon outweigh all the fish in the sea.

Plastic incineration is ineffective and hazardous to human health

The incineration of plastic has been proven to be ineffective and harmful to human health. Burning trash is one of the most expensive forms of energy generation in the U.S., twice that of nuclear, and twice that of solar, and three times the cost of wind. Despite this, six times more plastic waste is burned in the United States than is recycled.

Single-use plastics in particular—especially small items like straws, bags, and cutlery—aren’t easy to recycle because they fall into the crevices of recycling machinery. Many recycling centres won’t even accept them. Left alone, plastics don’t really break down; they just break up. Wear and tear and washing, as well as sun and heat, can slowly turn plastics into smaller and smaller pieces until they eventually become what are known as microplastics. These microscopic plastic fragments, no more than 5 millimetres long, are hard to detect and are just about everywhere.

Billions of items of plastic waste are choking our oceans, lakes, and rivers and piling up on land. Plastic pollution is very real and single-use plastics have a large impact. Since plastic was introduced in the 1950s, 8.3 billion metric tons (9.1 billion US tons) of plastic has been produced. 79% of plastic that has ever been made still sits in landfills or the natural environment.

Plastic waste is burned six times more than it is recycled in the US

The incineration of plastic is ineffective and hazardous to human health. Burning trash is one of the most expensive forms of energy generation in the US, twice that of nuclear, solar and three times the cost of wind. Plastic is incinerated because it is difficult to recycle. Single-use plastics, especially small items like straws, bags and cutlery, are not easy to recycle because they fall into the crevices of recycling machinery. Many recycling centres won't even accept them.

Since the 1950s, 8.3 billion metric tons of plastic have been produced. 79% of plastic that has ever been made still sits in landfills or the natural environment.

Plastic doesn't break down, it breaks up into microplastics

Single-use plastics are small items such as straws, bags, and cutlery. They are not easy to recycle because they fall into the crevices of recycling machinery, and many recycling centres won't accept them. In fact, 95% of single-use plastic never gets recycled, with 79% of plastic that has ever been made still sitting in landfills or the natural environment.

Plastic doesn't biodegrade, but it does break up into microplastics. Microplastics are microscopic plastic fragments, no more than 5mm long, that are hard to detect and are everywhere. They are found in every organism sampled, including microscopic plankton, and are killing everything from seabirds to whales. Humans are also consuming 50,000 microplastics every year.

The reason plastic breaks up is that, given enough time in the sunlight and air, the polymers (or bonds) in the plastic are destroyed. This process is already well underway, with 8 million tonnes of plastic being poured into the sea every year.

The number of microplastics is increasing exponentially as a result of the ongoing breakdown process. A single plastic bag can fall apart into millions of plastic pieces.

Scientists use respirometry tests to measure how much CO2 is produced when bacteria decompose an object. However, when a plastic bag is put into this environment, no gas is produced at all, which tells us that microorganisms do not see plastic as food and therefore will not break it down.

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