Mopping Up or Turning Off the Tap? Environmental Injustice and the Ethics of Plastic Pollution

Abstract

Experts demonstrate that oceanic plastic pollution is increasing at astounding rates (Eriksen et al., 2014;Geyer et al., 2017). Research indicates harmful levels of toxicity in everyday plastic items (SCP/RAC, 2020). Scientists find this issue so important that they have recommended plastics be classified as a pollutant on par with hazardous waste (Mouat et al., 2010;Rochman et al., 2013) or that single use plastics should be banned (Telesetsky, 2019). For many years, experts have noted that increasing plastic manufacturing and use will worsen the condition in the marine environment (Carpenter and Smith, 1972;Azzarello and Van Vleet, 1987;Gregory, 2009) and yet the global plastic industry continues to increase production, cumulatively producing 368 million tons in 2019 (PlasticsEurope, 2020). If current growth trajectories continue, by 2050 plastic could account for 20% of global oil production (Giacovelli, 2018) and the world could have four times the amount of plastic waste that we generate today (Geyer et al., 2017). Plastic debris contributes to a comprehensive global environmental problem that -if current trends continue-will worsen significantly (Borrelle et al., 2020;Silva et al., 2020). The COVID-19 crisis only exacerbates the problem, as it has led to an increase in the use of single use plastics in the form of personal protection equipment, which researchers have already begun to see in the environment at high levels (Ammendolia et al., 2021;Mejjad et al., 2021).The majority of the plastic pollution problem falls disproportionately on the global south, especially in south and southeast Asia (Jambeck et al., 2015;Lebreton et al., 2017), creating an issue of slow violence (Homer-Dixon, 2000) and environmental injustice. While plastic pollution is universal, some consequences such as clogged drainage systems, increases in vector-borne diseases, and reduction in tourism are particularly felt in poorer communities, where solid waste management systems are not in place (

Surface Modification of Poly(lactic acid) Film via Cold Plasma Assisted Grafting of Fumaric and Ascorbic Acid

“…Global environmental policy and market knowledge of the use and consumption of materials with low environmental effects are the first guiding factors in the production and investigation of new biodegradable or organic products. The packaging industry is one of the most critical waste generators [1]. Current consumption patterns in our society are producing a great deal of waste that needs to be carefully handled to generate the least environmental effects.…”

“Where does it go?”: Perceptions and problems of riverine and marine litter amongst South Africa and Malawi’s urban poor

“…The poor residents of Blantyre and Durban may contribute to the flood of plastic in our rivers and oceans, but their contribution is dwarfed, per capita, by that of the rich. Moreover, blaming end-users and recommending end-of-pipe solutions does not address the continued production of single-use plastics [31]. Furthermore, while small steps are important, and studies which centre individual action are potentially illuminating, they are as Kalina [32] points out, inherently non-transformative.…”

China’s regulatory respond to plastic pollution: Trends and trajectories

“…In this period, China has also significantly transformed its approach to governing plastics; not only has the goal and purpose of Like many other countries in the world, China is focusing regulatory attention on plastic treatment on the symptoms of the problem (e.g., cleanup, recycling, etc. ), not the source (i.e., prodigious production of plastics) (Owens and Conlon, 2021).…”