A World With Less Plastic Would Be Fantastic

Key Takeaways

Plastics are useful, durable, versatile, convenient and inexpensive. Many innovations wouldn’t be feasible without them. Plastics are everywhere — from food packaging to electronic gadgets, medical equipment, cars, furniture and toys.

Unfortunately, plastic causes serious environmental harm, particularly plastic waste dumped in the ocean or just discarded everywhere people go. The sheer amount of plastic waste generated every year is mind-boggling, and it often contains toxic chemicals that leach into food and water supplies, potentially causing serious health problems.

In the 1967 movie “The Graduate,” the main character receives this career advice: “One word: Plastics.” While this prediction about the proliferation of plastics proved to be accurate, it overlooked the extensive damage they can cause.

Many people diligently place empty plastic bottles and packaging into recycling bins, but estimates show that only 5% to 15% of plastic waste is recycled.¹ The vast majority — hundreds of millions of metric tons each year — is dumped in landfills, incinerated or leaked into the environment.

Today, innovative companies are looking for ways to reduce plastic waste and develop more environmentally friendly materials that preserve plastic’s key benefits.

This article:

• Emphasizes the scale of the problem caused by conventional plastics.

• Explores less harmful alternatives to plastic.

• Demonstrates how companies are minimizing plastic waste.

Plastics Are a Billion-Ton Problem (and Growing)

Since the introduction of plastic in the 1950s, over 8.3 billion metric tons (9.1 billion U.S. tons) have been produced, which is equivalent to the weight of 1 billion elephants. Microplastics have been detected in tap water, beer and salt, and samples from the world's oceans, including the Arctic Ocean. This creates myriad problems, including:

• Millions of tons of plastic end up in oceans and landfills yearly – the equivalent of dumping a garbage truck full of plastic every 45 seconds.²

• Plastic doesn’t biodegrade; instead, it breaks down into small, even microscopic pieces that hundreds of animal species ingest.³ This introduces plastic into the food chain, which affects humans.

• Marine animals and birds suffocate when plastic bags cover their heads. They can also become entangled in plastic waste. Seabirds, whales, fish and turtles can mistake plastic waste for food. After ingesting plastic, their stomachs fill up, leading to starvation.

• Floating plastics transport invasive species, threatening marine biodiversity and the food web.⁴

• Manufacturing plastic is a significant source of greenhouse gas emissions. Oil and gas are raw materials used to make plastic, and they are burned to generate the heat needed in the manufacturing process.

• When exposed to sunlight, low-density polyethylene plastic used for packaging, such as plastic wrap and shopping bags, releases methane, which is 80 times as potent as carbon dioxide over 20 years.⁵

If the current rate of growth and methods of production continue, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency projects that plastic emissions will exceed 2.5 billion metric tons by 2050. That’s equivalent to the emissions from 557 million gasoline-powered cars over an entire year.

How Do Plastics Impact Our Food and Health?

Plastics also have a direct negative impact on human health.

• The average individual ingests roughly 5 grams of plastic, the equivalent of eating one credit card per week, according to the World Wildlife Fund.⁶ Microplastic consumption has risen sixfold globally since 1990, and the U.S. is among the countries consuming record levels of these tiny plastic particles.⁷

• Ingesting microplastics has been associated with inflammation, a factor in heart disease, cancer and autoimmune disorders. Some studies show microplastics can affect our internal organs and cause reproductive problems.

• Microplastics can carry pathogens, increasing the spread of diseases.

• The production of plastics can pose health risks to workers who are exposed to toxic chemicals.

• Burning plastic creates noxious air pollution, and dumping plastic in landfills contaminates the soil.

• Several chemicals used to produce plastic materials are known carcinogens and can interfere with the body’s endocrine system. This can cause developmental, reproductive, neurological and immune disorders, at an estimated cost of $100 billion per year.⁸

Are There Any ‘Natural’ Alternatives to Traditional Plastics?

Attitudes about the use and disposal of plastics are shifting. The U.N. Environment Program’s Plastics Initiative is developing an internationally binding agreement focused on reusing, recycling and repurposing to reduce plastic waste dramatically. While we wholeheartedly support this effort, some are also considering alternative types of plastic.

Bioplastics, which are biodegradable, created from a renewable resource, or both, have been positioned as an eco-friendly alternative to traditional plastic. There are two main types of bioplastics:

• PLA, typically made from the sugars in corn starch, cassava or sugar cane.

• PHA, made by microorganisms that produce plastic from organic materials.

Unfortunately, we don’t see bioplastics as a viable solution. Producing them creates more pollutants from the fertilizers and pesticides used to grow the crops needed to make PLAs and from the chemical processing that turns organic material into PHA. Bioplastics also cause more ozone depletion than traditional plastics and require extensive land use.⁹

Furthermore, while technically biodegradable, bioplastics must be collected and composted in carefully controlled, high-temperature industrial composting facilities. There aren’t many of these facilities, especially in developing countries where plastic pollution is the most problematic.

If bioplastics end up in landfills without enough oxygen to break them down, they can last centuries and release methane, just like conventional plastics.¹⁰

How Are Companies Reducing Plastic Waste?

Innovative companies are developing new approaches to reduce plastic waste due to the growing demand from consumers and businesses. The following examples show how embedding sustainability into business models may open up new sources of revenue:

• Start-up company Notpla (“not plastic”) makes biodegradable packaging from brown seaweed. Its Ooho plastic-free, edible water “balls” grabbed attention a few years ago, but the company is focused on more substantial, sustainable packaging. Its seaweed-coated take-out food containers biodegrade within four to six weeks.

• Lush (with over 869 stores in 52 countries) sells personal care and beauty products in solid form, including hair and body care, fragrance and toothpaste without bottles or tubes to throw away. When the company can’t eliminate packaging, it uses recycled, recyclable, reusable or compostable materials.

• Apeel’s plant-derived coating for fruit and vegetables extends shelf life without using plastic packaging. The coating (which is odorless and tasteless) slows spoilage and reduces the amount of food wasted annually by retailers and consumers.

• MycoWorks extracts mushrooms' vegetative tissues and solidifies them into plastic-free leather-like products that have received rave reviews from luxury-focused media, including Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar.

• Ecovative Design’s MycoComposite replaces plastic packaging with a waste-free mushroom (mycelium)- based alternative that biodegrades into soil.

What’s the Outlook for the World’s Plastic Waste Problem?

Plastics have improved our lives by increasing convenience and product safety, reducing costs and supporting advances in medicine and technology. However, the widespread use of and “throwaway” attitude toward single-use plastics has created significant environmental and health problems.

Over one-third of Americans say they are actively looking for ways to reduce their use of plastics, and a substantial majority of consumers are willing to pay more for sustainable packaging. In our view, this presents an opportunity for companies to reduce or even eliminate single-use plastics by developing and marketing sustainable alternatives.

The journal Nature Technology reports that researchers are investigating bacteria, fungi and plants that can be grown and engineered to remove plastics, chemicals and pollutants from contaminated soil and water.¹¹ We also need to invest in more effective waste management systems to prevent plastics from ending up in the ocean.

Companies that find ways to retain plastics' benefits while reducing their immense negative environmental and health impacts can appeal to consumers who care about creating a more sustainable future.