Plastic pollution is changing the entire Earth system, scientists discover

Plastic pollution is altering the processes of the entire Earth system, exacerbating climate change, biodiversity loss, ocean acidification and freshwater and land use, scientific analysis shows.

Plastic should not be treated just as a waste problem, the authors say, but as a product that harms ecosystems and human health.

The authors warned in the days before final talks were due to begin in South Korea to agree on a legally binding global treaty to reduce plastic pollution. Progress towards a treaty on plastic pollution is hampered by disagreement over the need to include cuts on plastic pollution $712 billion plastic manufacturing industry in the treaty. During the last talks in April, developed countries were accused of bowing to pressure from fossil fuel and industrial lobbyists to avoid possible production cuts. The discussions in South Korea, starting November 25mark a rare opportunity for countries to reach an agreement to tackle the global plastic pollution crisis.

At least 506 million tons of plastic were produced worldwide in 2022, but only 9% is recycled globally. The rest is burned, landfilled or dumped where it can end up in the environment. Microplastics are now everywhere, from the summit of Mount Everest to the Mariana Trench, the deepest point on Earth.

The new plastic pollution research examined mounting evidence of the effects of plastic on the environment, health and human well-being. The authors urge delegates to the UN negotiations to stop viewing plastic pollution as just a waste problem and instead address material flows throughout the life cycle of plastic, from extraction, production and use of raw materials to its release into the environment and its fate. and the effects of the Earth system.

“It is necessary to consider the entire life cycle of plastics, starting from the extraction of fossil fuels and the production of primary plastic polymers,” says the paper’s lead author, Patricia Villarrubia-Gómez, from the Stockholm Resilience Center.

The research team showed that plastic pollution changed the processes of the entire Earth system and affected all pressing global environmental problems, including climate change, biodiversity loss, ocean acidification and freshwater and land use.

“Plastics are seen as those inert products that protect our favorite products, or that make our lives easier and that can be “easily cleaned up” once they become waste,” said Villarrubia-Gómez. “But this is far from reality. Plastics are made from the combination of thousands of chemicals. Many of them, such as endocrine disruptors and forever chemicals, cause toxicity and damage to ecosystems and human health. We need to see plastics as the combination of these chemicals that we interact with every day.”

Talks about plastic treaties have attracted a large number of fossil fuel and industry lobbyists. At the latest calls in Ottawa, Canada, 196 lobbyists registered, compared to the 143 who registered at the previous calls in Nairobi.

Most single-use plastics (98%) are made from fossil fuels, and the seven largest plastic-producing companies are fossil fuel companies. according to 2021 data.

The chairman of the UN treaty talks has said that the entire life cycle of plastic must be included in the mandate. “What is clear is that we cannot control the amount of plastic we produce,” said Luis Vayas Valdivieso, also Ecuador’s ambassador to Britain. “Only 10% of it is recycled, something has to be done, and that is why these negotiations are so important. We need an approach that covers the entire life cycle.”

Prof Bethanie Carney Almroth, from the University of Gothenburg, co-author of the report, said: “We are now finding plastics in the most remote areas of the planet and in the most intimate parts of human bodies. And we know that plastics are complex materials that end up in the environment throughout the life cycle of plastics, causing damage in many systems.

“The solutions we seek to develop must be considered with this complexity in mind, addressing all aspects of safety and sustainability to protect people and the planet.”