Sometimes it's hard to conceptualize massive numbers. The Pew Charitable Trust has revealed that the world could be adding 309 million tons of plastic to the environment annually by 2040, a figure that is difficult to fully appreciate.
The researchers delivered a shocking way to visualize it: That amount of plastic is equivalent to a nearly full garbage truck of plastic being unleashed into the environment every second.
What's happening?
Gizmodo reported on the ominous predictions from the Pew Charitable Trust on plastic production and pollution. Plastic production is growing rapidly, increasing by up to 52% by 2040, or 7.5% annually.
This rate is twice as fast as the capacity to effectively manage plastic waste. The biggest culprit is plastic packaging, according to the researchers. Right now, our systems in place for recycling simply aren't good enough.
The report suggests that only so many subsets of plastics can be recycled, and it's a temporary solution, as the materials eventually run out of utility and value to producers.
"Recycling alone, therefore, can only slow, but not prevent, exponential growth of primary plastic production," the authors concluded. With that in mind, unless things change, the researchers expect a concerning fallout from all that plastic entering the environment.
Why is the growth of plastic production important?
Plastic production has far-reaching environmental impacts and negative effects on human and animal life.
In their executive summary, the researchers identified how plastic negatively affects human health at every stage of its life cycle.
Microplastics, meanwhile, have been linked to an array of health risks in various emerging studies. Not only do those risks affect human health, but they also cost the world up to $1.5 trillion in health costs annually, per the researchers.
One more issue is that plastic production contributes to planet-heating pollution. The researchers estimate that, without intervention, the annual plastic pollution will be equivalent to that of a billion gas-powered cars.
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Definitely 👍 Some of the most dangerous pollution from developing new polymers or openly burning plastics specifically threatens vulnerable communities, according to the report.
What's being done about the plastic problem?
Despite the frightening realities, the report suggests that reducing plastic pollution is attainable with some major interventions and investment. To attack the plastic packaging problem, the Pew Charitable Trust proposes a large implementation of return-and-reuse schemes for consumers.
That idea also hinges on a nearly $600 billion investment from companies and governments to move away from single-use plastics.
Additionally, the report advocates for plastic redesigns that enhance recyclability and reusability. Already, scientists from around the world are looking at new materials that can be viable plastic alternatives.
Waste management is another area to improve. There is innovation on this front with technology that can more efficiently sort through waste.
The report makes it clear that the challenge is considerable, but the means to address plastic pollution are there.
If we don't do so, by 2040, those innumerable quantities of garbage trucks filled with plastics will be an even more staggering problem.
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