How to Tackle the Hazards of Global Plastic Crisis?

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The global plastics production has registered tremendous growth over the period from 1950 to 2022. The production which had totalled only around 2 million tonnes in 1950 has crossed nearly 430 million tonnes during the previous year. Alarmingly, it is predicted to reach 1 billion tonnes by 2060.

According to estimates provided by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), the global trade of plastics is valued at around $1 trillion per year. The polymer production and plastic processing industries across the globe employ approximately 9 million people. This in excluding the several others employed by the informal sector. The U.S. plastics industry alone employs around 2.5 million people, generating $451 billion per year in shipments.

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Around 350 million tonnes of plastic waste are generated every year. Only less than a tenth of the total plastic waste is recycled, while another 15% are incinerated. The remaining plastic waste are dumped in landfills or end up in rivers, lakes or oceans.

The plastic pollution has proved to be detrimental to human health as well. As per recent study, around 400,000 to 1 million people die due to plastic pollution every year.

A systematic shift based on 3 R’s- Reuse, Recycle and Reorient could effectively tackle the rising menace caused by plastic pollution.