Sofia Martinez
Plastic is everywhere. It's in our appliances, our medical instruments, our food packaging, and our oceans. Every year, an estimated 1 to 2 million tons of plastic enter the world's oceans, threatening marine life and ecosystems. But there's a mystery surrounding the fate of this plastic: only about 1% of it is found floating on the surface, so where is the rest? This missing 99% has been dubbed dark plastic, and scientists are working to uncover its whereabouts and mitigate its environmental impact. The plastic crisis is a global issue, with complex recycling challenges and waste management disparities between richer and poorer countries. As plastic production continues to surge, the question of where has all the plastic gone? becomes increasingly urgent.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Annual global plastic production | 350 million tonnes |
| Annual plastic waste | 350 million tonnes |
| Annual plastic waste entering the ocean | 1-2 million tonnes |
| Percentage of plastic waste entering the ocean | 0.5% |
| Percentage of plastic waste that is mismanaged | 25% |
| Plastic waste management issues | Not recycled, incinerated, or kept in sealed landfills |
| Plastic waste in oceans from | Middle-income countries, particularly across Asia |
| Plastic waste in the US sent to | China, Malaysia, Bangladesh, Laos, Ethiopia, Senegal |
| Plastic waste in oceans leads to | Marine debris killing hundreds of thousands of seabirds, turtles, and marine mammals |
| Plastic breakdown | Microplastics |
| Plastic found in | Human digestive system, marine food chain, high mountains including France's Pyrenees and the Colorado Rockies |
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What You'll Learn
Plastic in the ocean
Once in the ocean, plastic can float or sink, depending on its density. Lighter plastics are buoyant and tend to move towards the ocean, while denser plastics sink. About 80% of floating plastic will beach on a coastline within a month of leaking into the ocean. Some objects may be washed out to sea again, but coastlines are the final resting place for most floating ocean plastic. This has serious consequences for the coastal environment, industries such as fishing and tourism, and high cleanup costs for coastal communities.
The plastic that sinks can end up on the ocean floor or get stuck along the river system. Over time, plastic in the ocean breaks down into microplastics, which can be ingested by marine life, causing harm to marine ecosystems. Microplastics can also absorb harmful pollutants, such as pesticides and dyes, and release them into the ocean. Larger plastic items can entangle marine animals, leading to injuries and deaths.
Addressing the issue of plastic in the ocean requires improving plastic waste management practices, particularly in middle-income countries where plastic consumption is growing, and waste management systems are inadequate. Reducing plastic consumption, reusing and recycling plastic items, and participating in cleanup efforts are also crucial in mitigating the impact of plastic pollution on our oceans.
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Plastic in landfills
Plastic is a versatile material used in various applications, including construction, home appliances, medical instruments, and food packaging. However, when plastic waste is not recycled, incinerated, or stored in sealed landfills, it becomes an environmental pollutant.
The world generates around 350 million tons of plastic waste annually, and a significant portion of this waste ends up in landfills. In 2018, landfills in the European Union (EU) received 7.2 million tons of plastic. Landfills are the major repository of plastics like LDPE, HDPE, PP, PS, and PET, constituting 48-60% of all plastics in landfills. These plastics are commonly used in packaging, and their consumption rates are high.
Plastic waste in landfills can take up to 1,000 years to degrade, and during this process, they can release toxic substances into the soil and water. This contamination can affect all forms of life, including humans, through the food chain. The degradation of plastic waste in landfills leads to the formation of microplastics, which can act as carriers of pollutants, absorbing and transporting them over long distances.
The United States, for example, generates millions of tons of plastic waste annually, and a large portion of it ends up in landfills, contributing to significant greenhouse gas emissions. Efforts are being made to address this issue, such as the student-designed mapping tool at Harvard University, which displays data on landfills and recycling in the United States. This tool helps identify potential sources of plastic supply for companies producing pyrolysis oil, a by-product of the recycling process used to manufacture new plastics.
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Plastic in the human body
Plastic is everywhere, and it is now clear that it is in all of us. Microplastics, minuscule plastic particles that come from degraded plastic products, have been detected throughout the human body. They are in our blood, saliva, breast milk, placenta, testicles, hearts, livers, kidneys, brains, bone marrow, and lungs.
There are two main ways that microplastics enter the human body: we swallow them and we breathe them in. They have been found in our food and water, in the air we breathe, and in cosmetics and household products. Microplastics have been detected in fruits and vegetables, plastic water bottles, cosmetics, and household dust. They are also in the soil, which means that plants and animals are exposed to them, and they enter our bodies when we eat plants and animals.
The health risks of microplastics in the human body are not yet fully understood, but there is reason for concern. Some studies have linked microplastics to poor health outcomes, including cardiovascular disease, oxidative stress, cell damage, inflammation, lung and liver effects, changes in the gut microbiome, altered lipid and hormone metabolism, and low male fertility. Inhaled particles may irritate and damage the lungs, and microplastics can also carry toxic chemicals and bacteria into the body, which could trigger an immune response or aggravate existing inflammatory diseases.
The extent of microplastic accumulation in the human body is also not yet clear. It is not known how microplastics are absorbed, distributed, metabolized, and excreted by the human body, and if not excreted, how long they remain in the body. Babies and infants may face particularly high exposures to microplastics, as they can be transmitted via the placenta and breast milk, and through the use of plastic feeding bottles and teething toys.
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Plastic in food chains
Plastic is now found in enormous quantities in the oceans and has even been detected in the human digestive system. It has been estimated that between 1 and 2 million tons of plastic enter the oceans annually, with 8 million tons being a previous estimate. This plastic waste comes from poorer countries, where most of the ocean plastics come from, and the probability that mismanaged plastic waste enters the ocean varies across the world. Factors such as the location and length of river systems, proximity to coastlines, terrain, and precipitation patterns all play a role.
Plastic has already entered the food chain, with animals carrying microplastics in their bodies. These microplastics are then ingested by other animals and humans, a process known as "trophic transfer". For example, mussels, coral, sea cucumbers, barnacles, and filter-feeding plankton have been shown to eat plastic fibres and fragments. In addition, chemicals are often added to plastic during production, which can leak from the plastic even when it is inside the body of an animal. These chemicals can interfere with human hormones, causing reproductive, neurological, and immune disorders.
The number of marine species that swallow or get caught in plastic has increased significantly in recent years. In 2015, Dutch researchers found that the number had doubled since 1997, from 267 to 557, and this number is now above 2000. It is difficult to determine the impact of plastic on the food chain, but it is known that plastic can block the intake of real food, as seen in arrow worms, and that nanoplastics can enter the brains of fish and lead to abnormal behavior.
The presence of plastic in the food chain is a growing concern, and efforts are being made to improve plastic waste management and reduce plastic waste. Recycling, reusing, and reducing plastic use are all important ways to help address this issue.
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Plastic in developing countries
Plastic is a cheap, versatile, and sterile material used in various applications, including construction, home appliances, medical instruments, and food packaging. However, when plastic waste is not recycled, incinerated, or kept in sealed landfills, it becomes an environmental pollutant.
Developing countries tend to have poorer waste management infrastructure, with low waste collection rates, disposal primarily by dumping, and limited outlets for reusing potentially recyclable materials. As a result, plastic waste in these countries often ends up in landfills or dumped in the environment, causing aesthetic, environmental, and public health issues. For example, plastic litter kills marine species and microplastics contaminate the food chain, reducing the oceans' ability to act as efficient carbon sinks.
In addition, rich countries tend to produce the most plastic waste per person, and often ship their plastic waste to developing countries for recycling or disposal. This adds to the plastic waste problem in these countries, as they may already struggle to manage their own waste effectively. A Guardian investigation found that the US exported the equivalent of 68,000 shipping containers of plastic recycling to developing countries that mismanaged more than 70% of their own plastic waste. The newest hotspots for handling US plastic recycling include some of the world's poorest countries, such as Bangladesh, Laos, Ethiopia, and Senegal, which offer cheap labor and limited environmental regulation.
However, there are also initiatives in developing countries to improve plastic waste management and reduce plastic pollution. For example, the Plastic Bank is a "chain of stores for the ultra-poor, where everything in the store is available to be purchased using plastic garbage," said founder David Katz. Additionally, a simple technology has been developed in Cameroon that produces LDPE-bonded sand blocks and pavers from waste plastic. This initiative has the potential to transform waste plastic into a valuable local resource and improve waste management in developing countries. Other initiatives include the reuse of waste plastics as construction materials, such as plastic-coated aggregates for asphalt and plastic fibres for concrete reinforcement.
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Frequently asked questions
Plastic waste that is not recycled, incinerated, or kept in sealed landfills becomes an environmental pollutant. It is estimated that 1 to 2 million tons of plastic enter our oceans each year, with most of it coming from middle-income countries across Asia.
Plastic can enter the ocean through various pathways, including littering, improper waste disposal, and illegal dumping. Rainwater and wind can carry plastic waste into streams, rivers, and drains, which eventually lead to the ocean.
Plastic pollution, especially in the oceans, has severe impacts on wildlife and ecosystems. Marine animals such as seabirds, turtles, and mammals may ingest plastic debris, leading to their deaths. Additionally, plastic breaks down into microplastics, which can be consumed by small marine organisms and enter the food chain, posing risks to human health.
