A study by the Stockholm Resilience Center (SRC) has concluded that plastic pollution is changing Earth system processes. The phenomenon has the potential to aggravate climate change, the loss of biodiversity and the acidification of seawater.
The researchers reviewed pre-existing work on the environmental footprint of plastics to understand the interactions of their effects within the framework of the 9 planetary boundaries. They determined that this type of pollution affects all established thresholds. “The impacts of polymers on natural patterns are complex and interconnected. “This work clearly demonstrates how plastics are acting to destabilize the system,” says Sarah Cornell, SRC scientist.
Every year more than 500 million tons of plastic are produced worldwide. Only 9% is recycled. The large-scale manufacturing of the product and the lack of mechanisms that guarantee its reuse have generalized the proliferation of microplastics. These contaminants “are everywhere, from the top of Mount Everest to the deepest part of the Mariana Trench,” the report warns.
The authors state that plastic pollution should not be addressed only as a waste problem. They maintain that it is essential to address material flows in each phase of product development. “It is necessary to consider the complete life cycle, starting with the extraction of fossil fuels and the primary production of plastic polymers,” highlights Patricia Villarrubia-Gómez, lead author of the article.
The fight against plastics
About 98% of single-use plastics are made from fossil fuels. The seven leading companies in the production of polymers also dominate the hydrocarbon industry, according to the Statista data bank. SRC specialists observed that there are great barriers to obtaining reliable information in this regard due to inconsistency in records, the lack of unified standards and the scarcity of methodological details. They point out that this hinders the implementation of effective mitigation policies.
Villarrubia-Gómez adds that the lack of reliable reports prevents humanity from being fully aware of the situation. “Plastics are often seen as something that makes our lives easier and can be ‘easily cleaned’ once they become waste. Nothing could be further from reality. [Estos materiales] They are made from the combination of thousands of chemicals. Many of them are harmful to ecosystems and human health. We should understand them as a combination of toxic components with which we interact daily,” he stated.
Members of the United Nations will discuss the International Plastics Treaty later this month. The preliminary version of the agreement imposes cuts to polymer production valued at almost $712 billion. The industry has expressed strong opposition. In the last negotiations of the agreement, held in April of this year, 196 lobby groups participated.
“There is a large majority of countries that do want a treaty of global rules, which sets out common requirements to be applied directly to harmful plastic,” says Nadia Balducci, specialist in Plastics and Circular Economy at the World Wildlife Fund in a statement. taken up in the middle Mongabay. “However, there is another group of nations with interests in fossil fuels that bring their geopolitical and economic priorities to the debates, delaying possible progress,” he adds.
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