The raging global COVID-19 pandemic has boosted the use of plastic products, especially single-use plastic, in efforts to avoid fomite transmission of this highly-infectious disease.
The dark side of this increased reliance on polluting plastic will be to boost the already immense amounts of plastic waste choking the oceans and landfills everywhere.
More than 1.3 billion tons of plastic waste will be discarded over the next two decades without widespread intervention. The rise in single-use plastic should increase by 40% over the next decade, making a serious problem even worse.
A new report about this menace, "Breaking the Plastic Wave: A Comprehensive Assessment of Pathways Towards Stopping Ocean Plastic Pollution," was released Thursday by The Pew Charitable Trusts and SYSTEMIQ.
"Breaking the Plastic Wave" also shows people can slash annual flows of plastic into the ocean by 80% over the next 20 years by applying existing solutions and technologies. It contends no single solution can achieve this goal. What will be needed to break the immense plastic wave are immediate, ambitious, and concerted actions by people everywhere.
Without these urgent remedies, more than 710 million metric tons of plastic will be dumped into the environment by 2040. The report reveals the amount of plastic dumped into oceans each year will skyrocket to 29 million metric tons from 11 million metric tons over the next 20 years if no action is taken to address the huge growth in plastic production and consumption.
This increase is equivalent to nearly 50 kilograms (110 pounds) of plastic on each meter of coastline worldwide. The cumulative amount of plastic in the ocean by 2040 could reach 600 million tons because plastic remains in the ocean for hundreds of years and is never truly biodegrade. And because of COVID-19, single-use plastic consumption has increased massively during the pandemic, according to the International Solid Waste Association.
"This scientific inquiry has for the first time given us a comprehensive insight into the staggering amounts of plastic waste that are being dumped into the world's terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems," said Dr. Costas Velis, a lecturer at the University of Leeds in the U.K. and an author of the report.
"We now have a much clearer picture of the sources of pollution and where it eventually ends up."
"Breaking the Plastic Wave" finds current commitments by government and industry will reduce the amount of plastic flowing into the ocean by only 7% by 2040. More than four billion people worldwide are likely to be without organized waste collection services by 2040. This deficit will significantly increase the projected amount of ocean plastic pollution.
The report identifies eight measures which, when combined, can reduce by some 80% the amount of plastic pollution that flows into the ocean annually by 2040.
Among these measures:
* Increasing recycling.
* Reducing plastic waste exports.
* Reducing growth in plastic production and consumption;
* Substituting some plastics with alternatives such as paper and compostable materials.
* Designing products and packaging for recycling.
* Expanding waste collection rates in middle- and low-income countries
These changes will improve ocean health and could generate savings of $70 billion for governments by 2040. They will also reduce projected annual plastic-related greenhouse gas emissions by 25% and create 700,000 jobs.
