Plastics are synthetic polymers, often made using plentiful carbon atoms in fossil fuels (such as methane gas or petroleum). Plastic waste becomes alarming when photos of dead whales with stomachs full of plastic bags hit the news. Even after a ban, a heavy fine in place, and massive awareness campaigns, plastics remain an important part of our day-to-day lives. It has become ubiquitous starting from the toothbrushes to debit cards we use.



It is highly unclear as to how making plastic in the first place affects the environment. Plastics originate as fossil fuels and release greenhouse gases (GHGs) from cradle to grave. It has a big carbon footprint. It is, as a matter of fact, among the most energy-intensive materials to be produced.



<h2>LIFE CYCLE OF PLASTICS</h2>



<ul><li>The extraction and transport of fossil fuels to create plastic produce significant GHG. Emissions from fossil fuel extraction and transportation attributed to plastic production were at least 9.5-10.5 metric tons of CO2 equivalents per year in the United States in 2015.</li><li>Plastic purification is one of the foremost GHG-intensive industries within the manufacturing sector. Globally, in 2015, emissions from cracking to produce ethylene were 184.3-213.0 million metric tons of CO2 equivalents, as much as 45 million passenger vehicles driven for one year.</li><li>In the waste management process, plastics are landfilled, recycled or incinerated. US emissions from plastic incineration in 2015 are estimated at 5.9 million metric tons of CO2 equivalents</li></ul>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" width="938" height="436" src="https://wordpress.actoffset.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Screenshot-2022-03-24-201752.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-24" srcset="https://wordpress.actoffset.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Screenshot-2022-03-24-201752.jpg 938w, https://wordpress.actoffset.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Screenshot-2022-03-24-201752-300x139.jpg 300w, https://wordpress.actoffset.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Screenshot-2022-03-24-201752-768x357.jpg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 938px) 100vw, 938px" /></figure>



Carroll Muffett, President of Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL) says, “Emissions from plastics production and incineration could account to 56 gigatons of carbon between 2019 and 2050” and that is 56 billion tons or almost 50 times the annual emissions of all of the coal power plants in the U.S.



Plastics have become an integral component because they are durable, lightweight and most importantly very cheap. With developing technology, it has become very convenient for us to sit in the comfort of our homes and get everything delivered to us at our doorsteps. What follows this is the enormous generation of packing materials which are predominantly plastics. Deepinder Goyal, CEO of Zomato, in a September 2018 blog, estimated that orders through food delivery aggregators were adding up to “22,000 tons of plastic waste created every month in India.”&nbsp;



<h2>What is the solution?</h2>



Circular economy for plastics



A circular economy is an economic system in which materials are designed to be used and not used up. The vision for a circular economy for plastics has the following key points:



<ol><li>To eliminate problematic or unnecessary plastic packaging through redesign, innovation and new delivery models.</li><li>To reduce the need for single-use packaging and application of reuse models where relevant.</li><li>To make all plastic packaging 100% reusable, recyclable or compostable</li><li>To practice reusing, recycling and composting.</li><li>To decouple the use of plastic from the consumption of finite resources.</li><li>To ensure all plastic packaging is free from hazardous chemicals and the health, safety and rights of all people involved are respected.</li></ol>



Using this type of circular business model, authors of the CIEL report say carbon dioxide emissions would decrease by 62 million metric tons per year. Ultimately, some high-priority actions by policymakers and lawmakers are essential to managing the plastic lifecycle, including; ending the production and use of single-use, disposable plastics, stopping the development of new oil, gas, and petrochemical infrastructure as a critical component of circular economies.



However, rather than waiting for laws to be imposed, implementing a handful of practices make a big impact in the long run to control plastic and carbon footprint. These include carrying reusable plastic bags and water bottles, avoiding straws, sachets, and plastic cutleries. Let us understand the interdependence of plastic footprint and carbon footprint and pledge to contribute in every small way possible.

PLASTIC, CLIMATE AND THE HIDDEN TIE

“Climate change is no longer some far-off problem; it is happening here, it is happening now.”- Barack Obama



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" width="960" height="540" src="https://34.95.62.203/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/image1.png" alt="" class="wp-image-9" srcset="https://wordpress.actoffset.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/image1.png 960w, https://wordpress.actoffset.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/image1-300x169.png 300w, https://wordpress.actoffset.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/image1-768x432.png 768w" sizes="(max-width: 960px) 100vw, 960px" /><figcaption>Image credit: https://blog.wazoku.com/news/our-journey-to-wazoku-becoming-carbon-neutral</figcaption></figure>



Imagine if someone told you this – “Every time you exhale and waste food, go to work on your superb bike and use your laptop, purchase clothes and sip on your flavoured coffee, you are pushing someone into havoc.1”



This is precisely what is happening. Since intense industrialisation and globalisation, the situation has become dire. There is a cost that comes with each activity of ours – we generate emissions – which are responsible for not only climate change but also the cascade of effects it has on the planet and its inhabitants. Our carbon footprint is a way of measuring how much greenhouse gases we are producing and this can be estimated accurately using a carbon footprint calculator. In other words, this is a measure of the amount of climate change we are responsible for; although as an individual or single company or one simple event, this amount of anthropologically emitted greenhouse gases may seem tolerable and even harmless, this is far from the truth. Our reality at the moment and for a few decades to come with mathematical certainty is that we are way past the number of carbon dioxide molecules in the atmosphere that is tolerable. What we have sealed our fate as for the next few decades and even a couple of centuries, is excruciatingly painful consequences.&nbsp;Although climate change is not reversible2, there is something we can do to slow down the process and give ourselves more time to fix the problem at hand – going carbon neutral or in broader terms, going net-zero.



<h2>What does going carbon neutral or net-mean?</h2>



By going carbon neutral or net-zero, the person, company, or government understands their accountability and responsibility for their carbon and other greenhouse gas emissions and balances it by sequestration. This, essentially, is taking carbon (carbon dioxide) out of the atmosphere and putting elsewhere – by storing it in living organism or putting it underground. One method of doing so is by putting this carbon in trees via offsetting. Another method of taking carbon emissions out of the atmosphere is by filter units that give a solid product at the end.



<h2>How does one go net-zero or carbon neutral?</h2>



Let’s break this into doable steps!&nbsp;



<ol><li>The first thing to do, just as with any challenge at hand, is to fully understand and analyse it. This is made simple with a carbon footprint calculator. This is a calculator built to take input and account for the kind of emissions that will be involved with the kind of activity, also including the number of individuals involved.&nbsp;</li><li>Finally, the output will give you the carbon footprint.&nbsp;</li><li>Once you have that, you can go ahead with offsetting options, or filter units or put it underground after taking it out of the atmosphere.&nbsp;</li><li>Multiple options are available. Offsets not only take carbon out of the atmosphere but also improve the weather of the place they are put in along with the bonus of improved soil quality and ecosystem revival.&nbsp;</li></ol>



Fundamentally, this breaks down into two activities- understanding how much emissions you are responsible for and sequestering or offsetting as much is being emitted, if not more which in turn is going carbon negative.&nbsp;



To decide about your journey on going carbon neutral, you may use our carbon footprint calculator for assistance and check out our blogs ongoing carbon-neutral and sustainable living.

Carbon neutrality and net-zero: stepping into a better future

Act offset Blogs

PLASTIC, CLIMATE AND THE HIDDEN TIE

By Amit

Carbon neutrality and net-zero: stepping into a better future

By admin

Subscribe to our newsletter