Eliminating Plastic Pollution: How a Voluntary Contribution From Industry Will Drive the Circular Plastics Economy

Abstract

Marine plastic pollution is a symptom of an inherently wasteful linear plastic economy, costing us more than US$ 2.2 trillion per year. Of the 6.3 billion tonnes of fossil fuel-derived plastic (FFP) waste produced to date, only 9% has been recycled; the rest being incinerated (12%) or dumped into the environment (79%). FFPs take centuries to degrade, meaning five billion tonnes of increasingly fragmented and dangerous plastics have accumulated in our oceans, soil and air. Rates of FFP production and waste are growing rapidly, driven by increased demand and shifting strategies of oil and gas companies responding to slowing profit growth. Without effective recycling, the harm caused by FFP waste will keep increasing, jeopardizing first marine life and ultimately humankind. In this Perspective article, we review the global costs of plastic pollution and explain why solving this is imperative for humanity's well-being. We show that FFP pollution is far beyond a marine environmental issue: it now invades our bodies, causing disease and dysfunction, while millions of adults and children work in conditions akin to slavery, picking through our waste. We argue that an integrated economic and technical solution, catalyzed through a voluntary industry-led contribution from new FFP production, is central to arrest plastic waste flows by making used plastic a cashable commodity, incentivizing recovery and accelerating industrialization of polymerto-polymer technologies. Without much-needed systematic transformation, driven by a contribution from FFP production, humanity and the oceans face a troubling future.

Transnational Plastics: An Australian Case for Global Action

“…Setting a "plastic price" that incorporates the external costs of plastic pollution into the price of fossil fuel-based plastics would certainly incentivize their replacement with renewable and/or recycled materials (Raubenheimer and McIlgorm, 2018). Non-binding businessled proposals for implementing a transnational "plastic price" based on a production levy (Forrest et al, 2019) and credit scheme (3R Initiative, 2020) have been made in the past, but so far with very little implementation traction. We encourage policymakers to consider the implementation of a similar, but legally binding, intervention; perhaps under a "Global Extended Producer Responsibility" scheme (Raubenheimer and Urho, 2020) and/or via the introduction of phased targets reducing international trade of fossil-fuel based plastics (Raubenheimer and McIlgorm, 2017).…”

“…Notoriously, around 40% of the plastics we produce are used for packaging that becomes waste immediately after its single use, contributing to more than 60% of global beach litter (Schweitzer et al, 2018). Currently, more than 15 million tons of plastic enter oceans each year (Forrest et al, 2019). Plastics of all kinds-from microscopic packaging fragments to giant fishing nets-have accumulated in many marine ecosystems, including beaches (Lavers and Bond, 2017), coastal and oceanic waters (Ryan, 2013;Lebreton et al, 2018), marine canyons (Schlining et al, 2013), coral reefs (Lamb et al, 2018), mangroves (Martin et al, 2019), and even sea ice (Peeken et al, 2018).…”

“…Aside from impacting oceans, plastics are also causing significant damage during their upstream lifecycle. The vast majority of today's plastics are made of fossil fuels (∼99%) and the release of greenhouse gases during their production and incineration is costing around US$ 700 billion per year to the global economy (Forrest et al, 2019). Additional damage is created by the release of toxic chemicals from plastics to air, soil and water resources (UNEP, 2014) as well as human exposure to plastic particles and additives linked to cancer, obesity, diabetes, and endocrine system disorders (Brophy et al, 2012;DeMatteo et al, 2013;Manikkam et al, 2013;Lehner et al, 2019).…”

New species of Eurythenes from hadal depths of the Mariana Trench, Pacific Ocean (Crustacea: Amphipoda)

“…nov. was most similar to PET, which is one of the top five most prevalent synthetic plastic polymers produced and discarded globally (Geyer et al 2017). Without substantial global changes to the life cycle of plastic, from reducing the rate of plastic production to improving waste management (Forrest et al 2019), plastics and microfibres will continue to be transported to the deep sea and be ubiquitous in the hadal food chain for the foreseeable future.…”

Nudging in Supermarkets to Reduce Plastic Bag Consumption Among Customers: A Framework for Change

“…A recent paper, led by Australian businessman Andrew "Twiggy" Forrest (2019), presented a global solution to the plastic waste crisis, highlighting the complexity of the issue, and yet, presenting hope to an otherwise hopeless problem. The paper proposed "the Contribution", also known as the "Sea The Future" initiative, suggesting that plastic waste can be transformed into a "cashable commodity" through a voluntary pricing on fossil fuel-derived plastic led by the global plastics industry (Forrest et al, 2019). Despite its seemingly simple and elegant solution, it is a hopeful process that first requires the global cooperation of the plastics industry.…”