
Plastic Pollution - nuriaion
https://ourworldindata.org/plastic-pollution
======
deepvibrations
I see a lot of discussion about recycling and burying/burning, but I think
more effort should be made to reduce usage of plastics and re-use where
necessary.

I have gone plastic-free this January and it has been far more challenging
than I thought. Despite having some very ethical shops on my doorstep in
Bristol (UK), it takes a lot more time to do my shopping now and there are
still many foods which I just cannot find without plastic packaging, most of
which really do not need it.

It has been a great eye opener to just how bad the supermarkets are and I
think change needs to come through regulation, as a simple small tax for them
may be enough to tip the scales and move things in a better direction.

~~~
cptskippy
> I think more effort should be made to reduce usage of plastics and re-use
> where necessary.

More specifically we need to change the narrative away from recycling and
disposal being the consumer's responsibility. The package choices are not the
consumers and if manufacturers are unwilling to shift towards reusable or
responsible packaging then we need legislation and regulation to force the
issue.

> I have gone plastic-free this January and it has been far more challenging
> than I thought.

I would not think that's even possible without making significant lifestyle
changes. There are just basic things (e.g. Toilet paper) that I'm not even
aware you can purchase without plastic packaging. Good luck with your journey.

~~~
fooblitzky
I buy toilet paper from Who Gives A Crap:
[https://us.whogivesacrap.org/](https://us.whogivesacrap.org/)

The toilet paper is made from bamboo, and comes wrapped in paper in a
cardboard box. They operate in USA, Australia, and the UK.

~~~
dhimes
I almost had a spontaneous need for their product when I saw the price was
$52; but then I clicked the image and discovered it was for 48 rolls.

~~~
njarboe
Toilet paper as a veblen good? I have not seen that yet, but I bet it already
exists.

~~~
dhimes
No, it was my try at humor: I almost crapped my pants when I thought it cost
$52 a roll.

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treerock
_High-income countries...have very effective waste management infrastructure
and systems; this means discarded plastic waste is stored in secure, closed
landfills._

How does this match up to the estimates that "Roughly two-thirds of plastic
waste in the UK is sent overseas to be recycled."[1]? Especially if some of
that 'recycled' waste ends up in uncontrolled landfills.

[1] [https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-
environment-49827945](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-49827945)

~~~
nerdponx
I assume by "discarded" they exclude recycling.

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Noxmiles
As a german I am a bit shocked to see, that Germany is often in the top 5 of
most produced plastic at all and per capita. Still - I don't see much of it in
the streets or elsewhere.

Thanks for the link. Great article.

~~~
cptskippy
That could also be a cultural thing. Some cultures, like German and Japanese,
have stricter etiquette and manners around things like cleanliness and order.
In my experience Germans are also not shy in telling you when you've violated
etiquette either, which is very different from in the US where people avoid
confrontation.

~~~
novok
The reason why in the US is because you have a very real chance of getting
shanked or violently attacked if you do 'notify a violator' in public.

~~~
cptskippy
That's not true.

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lelima
I though we didn't Incinerated plastic because of health reasons(toxic
chemicals releases) and we burn more plastic than recycled.

Recycling: 19.5% Burning: 25.5% Discard: 50%

Revealing metric

~~~
thescriptkiddie
Modern incinerators release little more than carbon dioxide, because they burn
at temperatures so high that the fuel undergoes nearly complete pyrolysis.
Some even use plasma torches to gasify the fuel without "burning" it, then use
the gas to run generators.

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jefftk
Looking at [https://ourworldindata.org/plastic-pollution#how-does-
plasti...](https://ourworldindata.org/plastic-pollution#how-does-plastic-
impact-wildlife-and-human-health) I see a lot of reasons to believe plastic
can be harmful, but nothing about the scale of the harm. Is plastic pollution
about as bad greenhouse gas pollution? 10x as bad? 0.1x as bad? Decent
estimates here would be really important for figuring out what we should focus
on.

(My completely uninformed guess is that it's ~0.01x as bad, but if anyone has
something more informed that would be very helpful!)

~~~
WhompingWindows
Refine your thinking..."bad" is not a research outcome. Define your question
more specifically and it will be much easier to quantify the difference. What
are you interested in -- climate change, effect on ocean life, effect on human
health, etc.?

~~~
jefftk
I mean something equivalent to
[https://19january2017snapshot.epa.gov/climatechange/social-c...](https://19january2017snapshot.epa.gov/climatechange/social-
cost-carbon_.html)

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wiggler00m
Co-op food stores often encourage customers to bring their own re-usable
containers and bags for food, or failing that, to bring used paper/plastic
bags. This should be done at greater scale imo.

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swiley
What do they mean by plastic? Petrochemical resins? Does cellophane count?
Does paper count?

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jeremyw
Moderators: this article was updated with research from 2019, suggest dropping
the date from the title. It's current.

~~~
dang
Ok, done. Thanks!

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Faction
A question regarding the food chain:

What if I'm a vegetarian, do the microplastics get absorbed by plants and by
me when I eat the plant?

~~~
endothrowho333
Yes.

Depending on the size of the microplastic particles, they will be absorbed
through the roots. Most common sources are usually contaminated water and
fertilizers. Other times, regular pollution (f.e air and runoff)

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FailMore
I have no understanding of the relevant science, but would it be possible to
make plastic actively absorb carbon (and perhaps change colour). So if you
bought a bottle of coke, it would slowly turn from transparent to green as it
absorbed carbon. Then as we use copious amounts of plastic, which we will and
do, we would bring down carbon by a little bit.

Thoughts?

~~~
nosianu
Unless you do what the earth did for millions of years and _bury_ the carbon
deep underground anything you do will merely create a pipeline effect: When it
starts there is a small reduction, but overall there is none as soon as the
pipeline is full.

What do you mean by "absorb carbon" anyway - plastic _is_ carbon for the most
part, the "H(ydrogen)" in the molecules is tiny in terms of weight (H compared
to C atom), and any other atoms mixed in for this or that effect are minor
components of what is mostly various kinds of carbo-hydrogen molecules.

