The Problem with Plastic

Plastic is extremely durable, making it great for car parts or bike helmets that last for years, but not so great for single-use items. We know there are a lot of issues with plastic, but what exactly are the issues? Read on as we shed light on the problems with upstream plastic production, downstream use, and recycling while offering up some tips to help you reduce plastic in your own life.

What is plastic made out of?

The basic components that make up plastic are derived mainly from oil in addition to natural gas and coal. Oil is created through dead plants and animals decomposing and layers of sediment covering their remains over millions of years. The combination of heat and pressure turns these decomposed bodies into oil. From there, oil is pumped from the ground and sent to a refinery to refine the oil in different ways to create various products, including oil for driving cars or for making plastic.

The problem with how plastics are made

With plastic being made from oil, there are many environmental impacts from just producing the plastic pellets that will be turned into the various plastic products. Extracting oil from the ground, especially over the open ocean, can cause water contamination when oil spills occur, which can lead to death for ocean animals. Oil extracted on land can impact local wildlife migration patterns or habitat due to the intense human activity around these drilling sites within natural spaces.

Downstream problems 

In addition to the problems with how plastics are made, there are also many problems with what we do with plastics following their useful life. 

Problem #1 – Plastics don’t biodegrade

When we compost food scraps, fruits, leaves, and newspapers all of these items are broken down naturally, creating nutrient-rich soil in the process. Everything that's compostable breaks down into soil, which allows new life to grow! When looking at plastics, these materials can never fully biodegrade. Larger pieces of plastic can break down into smaller pieces of plastics, that eventually become microplastics. When plastics break down in the ocean, animals confuse these microplastics for food and eat them. This tricks the animals into thinking that they are full since their stomach is full of plastic, but they end up starving to death due to the lack of nutrients.

Problem #2 – Every piece of plastic created still exists

In 1862 the first plastic ever created was shown in London at the Great International Exhibition. Plastic creation took off since 1832, and in 1839 polystyrene, which is mainly used to create Styrofoam, was created. With plastics being around for a bit more than 180 years, the first plastics ever created, and all of those created since, still exist in our environment today in some way or another. Whether a new piece of plastic was recycled and turned into another product or plastics that break down into microplastics, every piece of plastic ever created still exists!

Plastic Recycling 

Only 9% of all the plastic ever produced has been recycled

Recycling is a great way to give plastics, and other products, another life. There are many different types of plastics, which are typically categorized by a number between 1-7. Some plastics are much easier to recycle than others. Due to this, in the USA, only 9% of the plastics that are produced have been recycled. 

The other 91% of the plastics either end up in landfills, being burned, littered into the environment, or improperly put into a recycling bin. Likely more than 9% of plastics are placed into the recycling bin by consumers, however, either due to the contamination of recycling or not having buyers for the recycled plastics, only 9% of plastics are recycled.

Not all plastics can be recycled

For a plastic item to be recycled, there needs to be a market that will buy the plastic product. Many times manufacturers won’t purchase the recycled plastic since it is cheaper to create products using virgin plastic.

Low-grade plastics, including chip bags or other soft plastics such as plastic wrap or snack pouches, do not have a strong market for recycling and typically cannot be recycled via curbside recycling due to those economics.

Plastic is not endlessly recyclable

Unlike glass or metal, which can be endlessly recycled, plastic loses its quality when it is recycled. A plastic bottle cannot be infinity turned into a plastic water bottle forever. Once recycled, it will need to be downgraded and made into a lower quality plastic product, such as carpeting or a t-shirt. This represents a linear path, where the plastic is only recycled a few times, and then gets sent to the landfill.

Rise in plastic usage

Did you know that plastic production is expected to double by 2040 and quadruple by 2050? Since manufacturers of plastics typically don’t buy back their plastic, new plastic must be made to keep up with the demand. This is different than manufacturers of glass or metal products, who do buy back their products since these can be endlessly recycled. 

Plastics that are better

Plastic No. 1, No. 2, and No. 5 are plastics that are less toxic and are more feasible to recycle, as more recycling centers take back and can find buyers for these types of plastic.

Plastics to avoid

Plastic No. 3, No. 6 & No. 7 are more toxic to make than other plastics and are much harder to find a recycling market for. These plastics are typically destined for the landfill. Plastic No. 3 is PVC, plastic No. 6 is PS or Styrofoam, and plastic No. 7 is other hard plastics, such as plastic water jugs (if it says #7 PLA - then it is a bio-based product and may be accepted for commercial composting).

Simple swaps to reduce plastic

There are so many simple ways to swap out plastic in your life, some of our favorites including: 

🌱 Using reusable water bottles 

🌱 Switching to bamboo toothbrush 

🌱Using bar shampoo and condition over plastic bottles 

🌱Bringing a reusable to-go container for leftovers when you go out to eat

🌱Downloading the PlasticScore app to find restaurants that won’t give you a lot of plastic waste