PLASTIC, CLIMATE AND THE HIDDEN TIE

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.

LIFE CYCLE OF PLASTICS

• 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.
• 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.
• 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

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.” 

What is the solution?

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:

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

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.