TICK TOCK THE CLIMATE CLOCK PART FOURTEEN

16 Tons and What Do You Get?  Another Day Older and Deeper in Plastic Debt.  The Guardian recently published a comic strip on plastic that is definitely not for children.  Since 1950, industrial ecologist Roland Geyer calculates that we have produced 8.3 billion tons of plastic.  Only about 30% of all plastic ever produced is still in use.  The other 70%?  79% is in landfills or scattered around the environment; 12% has been incinerated; and 9% has been recycled.  We're failing.  Here’s the link:   https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/jun/23/all-the-plastic-ever-made-study-comic

Waiting for Godot.  Depending on landfill conditions, plastic can take up to 1,000 years to decompose in landfills.  Plastic bags take 10-1,000 years to decompose, while plastic bottles can take 450 years or more.  If you’re curious to know how long it takes other stuff we take to the dump to “disappear,” here’s a good link: https://www.thebalancesmb.com/how-long-does-it-take-garbage-to-decompose-2878033

We Were Framed!  Oil companies are usually associated with gasoline, but they also produce ethane, a petrochemical used to make plastic.  Petrochemicals accounted for 50% of global oil demand last year and are projected to rise to 70% by 2040, despite growing environmental concerns.  To protect their profits, companies like BP, Exxon Mobil, and Saudi Arabian SABIC are partnering with international consultancy groups like Wood MacKenzie to re-frame the plastic problem as a waste problem.  The Center for International Environmental Law begs to differ in a report detailing the climate change impacts of extracting, refining, and manufacturing plastics, all of which emit greenhouse gases.  Brace yourself for marketing masquerading as science.

It’s Five Minutes to Midnight.  Do You Know Where Your Plastic Is? If you live in the US, chances are it’s been loaded into containers and shipped to Vietnam, Cambodia, Turkey, the Philippines, Ethiopia, Ghana, Senegal, Laos, Malaysia, Indonesia, Ecuador, or Bangladesh.  See a pattern here?  A Guardian investigation found that in 2018, the equivalent of 68,000 shipping containers of American plastic recycling were shipped to developing countries that mismanage more than 70% of their own plastic waste.  A lengthy article and well-worth reading:  https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/jun/17/recycled-plastic-america-global-crisis?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Email

Monterrey’s Deep-Sea Array.  A new study published in Scientific Reports, found that microplastics (less than 5 mm across) originating in consumer products are common in Monterrey Bay from the surface to the seafloor and may be entering marine food chains. “Our findings buttress a growing body of scientific evidence pointing to the waters and animals of the deep sea, Earth’s largest habitat, as the biggest repository of small plastic debris,” said the lead author of the paper.  Her co-author added, “It may be virtually impossible to remove existing microplastic from the deep sea.  But when we slow the flow of plastic from land, we can help prevent the increasing accumulation of plastic in our global ocean.”  Yes, but when?

The Problem is Blowin’ in the Wind.  From the Guardian:  Many scientists are concerned about the potential impacts of microplastics, which easily absorb toxic chemicals and can host harmful bacteria, with some even suggesting that people are breathing the particles, since new research shows microplastics can remain airborne.  Plastic fibers have been found in human lung tissue, suggesting they are “candidate agents contributing to the risk of lung cancer.”

Fatal Attraction.  From The New York Times:  "Studies suggest that some marine life don’t just accidentally eat plastic — they seek it out.  That’s because over time, marine plastic can absorb aquatic odors making them smell uncannily like food to some fish and bird species. When these animals eat the plastic instead of real food, they also get a dose of chemicals such as PCBs and heavy metals that the plastic absorbs from the environment."  Above is a photo of dead whale found in the Philippines with 40 kg of plastic in its stomach. 

Microplastics?  Priceless.  It’s not just marine life that are consuming microplastics.  As reported in the Berliner Zeitung:  People consume up to five grams of microplastics per week on average - roughly the same amount as a credit card.  "Large plastic parts are decaying into microplastics that have now been detected in foods such as honey, shellfish, and fish," the head of Marine Conservation at the WWF in Hamburg said.  Other sources include abrasion of microplastic in plastic bottles and synthetic fibers in the air.  "If we do not want plastic in our bodies, we have to prevent millions of tons of plastic waste from entering the environment each year."

Here's a Tip.  Also from The New York Times:  A study released in the journal Communications Biology found that plastic in the oceans also harms prochlorococcus, the marine bacteria responsible for producing 10 percent of the world’s oxygen.  Breathe deeply.  While you still can.

The Good Guys.   China, which used to import 45% of the world’s plastic waste, upended the recycling market when it stopped buying in 2018, forcing other countries to either ban single-use plastics or get their recycling acts together.  Canada and the EU are banning most types of single-use plastic by 2021.  India will eliminate all single-use plastic by 2022.  The US has found other third world importers for its plastic junk, while its oil companies are busy re-framing the issue as a recycling problem (see above), which it is, since China said no thanks.  Sound circular?  It is.

Keep it real!

Marilyn