What Does Plastic Trash Have To Do With Climate Change

From a conversation with Kerri Major, Engagement Manager for Partnerships and Innovation at WWF-Australia As a child in Singapore, I never thought about the use of plastic. It was cheap and last a long time, so everyone used it. It wasn't until my mother started refusing plastic bags from stores and even flushing laundry water down the toilet that I realized how bad plastic was for the environment. I know this all too well. And the effects are much worse than anyone thought at first. The world's growing production of plastics - about 100 million tonnes every year - is not only filling up landfills and putting our oceans and marine life at risk, it's also speeding up climate change. Plastic trash stays in the environment for a long time. It's built to last, and many of them do, for 400 years or more. Plastic releases greenhouse gases that warm the Earth at every stage of its life, even after it has been thrown away for a long time. The Center for International Environmental Law released a report in May that said the production of plastic will have the same effect on the world's climate this year as 189 coal-fired power plants. Plastic production is expected to have tripled by 2050. At that point, it will be responsible for up to 13% of the world's total carbon budget, which is the same amount of carbon as 615 power plants. How does plastic play a part in climate change? Almost all plastic comes from materials made from fossil fuels, mostly oil and gas. These materials are called ethylene and propylene. Billion of tonnes of greenhouse gases are released when these fuels are extracted, transported, and then used to make plastic. For instance, 4% of the world's annual oil production is used to make plastic, and another 4% is burned during the refining process. But it's just as worrying how we deal with all the plastic that ends up in the environment. Australia makes about 3 million tons of plastic every year, and 95% of it is thrown away after just one use. Less than 12% is recycled, which means that an unbelievable amount has to be thrown away or burned. China, Myanmar, and Cambodia used to be the ones who took care of our trash plastic. It was easy to roll it up in bales and send it overseas so that someone else could handle it. But the lack of rules about burning things in those developing countries was very bad for people's health and the environment. Researchers think that the making and burning of plastic will release more than 850 million tonnes of greenhouse gases into the air just this year itself. This number could go up to 2.8 billion tonnes by 2050. It's also scary that at least 8 million tons of trash end up in our oceans every year, and by 2030, the amount of plastic pollution at sea is expected to double. It has even been found in the Mariana Trench, which is almost 11 km below sea level and is the deepest place on Earth. Plastic waste is very bad for the oceans, which are the biggest natural sink for greenhouse gases. It suffocates and chokes many marine animals and their homes, and it can take hundreds of years to break down. Sunlight and heat make the plastic give off strong greenhouse gases, which sets off a scary feedback loop. The Earth gets hotter as the climate changes, and the plastic breaks down into more methane and ethylene. This speeds up climate change, which keeps the cycle going. There is a lot of plastic pollution in the ocean. A trash can and a plastic bag float in it. The smaller pieces that break off and spread out are called microplastics. Marine animals, like plankton, and some of the fish we eat eat them without meaning to. Why should we care about plankton? These tiny power plants are very important for removing carbon dioxide from the air and water and storing it in deep ocean sinks. We are still learning about all of these effects, but the main idea is that when microplastics threaten plankton populations, more carbon will return to the water and the air. Since our oceans have been able to take in 30–50% of the carbon dioxide released into the air since the beginning of the industrial age, it's clear what's at stake. This brings us back to the use of plastic on land, which is what is causing this growing plastic pollution problem. The more plastic we make, the more fossil fuels we need, and the worse climate change gets. As of right now, the only way to solve the problem is to stop making plastic, especially single-use plastic, and recycle more. One important part of WWF's work is cutting down on plastic use and waste. We're committed to working with our supporters, business partners, and industry groups to make better use of plastic and lessen its damage to the environment. It's very important if we want to protect our marine environments and cut down on greenhouse gas emissions that are making climate change worse.