Plastics play a valuable role in daily life and across industries, but their production and waste have severe environmental consequences.
Plastics play a valuable role in daily life and across industries, but their production and waste have severe environmental consequences. Mismanaged plastic waste persists in marine environments and food webs for centuries and cause harm to marine species that have ingested or been entangled in it.
In addition, greenhouse gas emissions from plastic manufacturing contributes to rising global temperatures causing environmental damage estimated to cost millions of dollars.
The widespread and long-term consequences of plastic pollution necessitate intervention to reduce the environmental and economic damages. Addressing these concerns – and meeting international targets for mitigating climate change, such as those outlined in the Paris Agreement – may include slowing the production of single-use plastics and focusing on re-use and recycling.
Previously, interventions on plastic pollution have focused on the demand-side, by implementing taxes or bans on single-use plastics. These often face public resistance and fail to target the primary sources of plastic production.
Read More: University of British Columbia
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