Plastic Tyranny

by bryan proulx August 17, 2022

The Plastic Tyranny That Is Strangling Our Oceans

In 2016, scientists at the World Economic Forum predicted that by 2050, the weight of plastic in the ocean might actually exceed the weight of fish. That is because our current consumption rates of plastic are skyrocketing. Each year the ocean receives an estimated 8 million metric tones of plastic. Over half of this plastic comprises consumer packaging. As a result, there are now ‘garbage’ patches of waste drifting in the ocean. By 2050, as much as 32 million metric tones of plastic could be pumping out into our waters In short, our oceans are suffocating in plastic.

Plastic, meaning “molded from heat”, does play an important role in our lives, and has done so for centuries. There are natural plastic sources such as beeswax, amber, and horns. Our modern problem lies in the commercial, unnatural production of plastic. Especially the creation of single-use plastic.

Around the world, awareness is growing of the destructive nature of single-use plastic. Countries are beginning to restrict or ban single-use plastic items. There is now a global focus on developing better systems of recycling, beach clean-ups, and improving the ways in which we manage waste.

Yet, estimates show that only 9% of plastics waste is actually recyclable. Around 86% of plastic ends up in the landfill. Furthermore, managing plastic within landfills sometimes involves burning it, which then creates air pollution. The core feature of commercial plastic is that it does not biodegrade. That means that the many millions of tones of plastic that we have already created will continue to exist long into the future. Because plastic only disintegrates into smaller particles over time, it is never eliminated in full. In a way, plastic is indestructible!

Because of this, plastic now resides in the furthest places on the planet and in the deepest parts of the ocean. Marine debris traps fish and seabirds, which harms or kills them. Previous plastic debris, which froze over, is now melting out of ice sheets into the Arctic sea. As plastic in our oceans degrades over time into smaller particles, fish and birds then digest those particles. This is creating illness or even death for the fish and birds and is threatening some species to the point of extinction. Furthermore, when we eat fish and animals that have ingested plastic, we ingest microplastics ourselves. Plastic has now unwittingly become a part of our food chain.

In 1987, the World Commission on Environment and Development devised the concept of sustainable development. Development that is sustainable: “meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”.

Sustainable development must be our goal if we are to preserve this planet and protect our fragile environment. We all have a role to play in improving our recycling efforts and decreasing the quantities of plastic that we consume.

Let’s not leave our oceans and planet to the mercy of the tyrant called Plastic.

References: Article Links

8 million metric tones

https://oceana.ca/en/blog/canadas-plastic-problem-sorting-fact-fiction

(Jambeck et al, 2015)

garbage’ patches

https://sites.psu.edu/aspsy/2016/09/15/the-great-pacific-garbage-patch/

(Turgeon, 2014)

choking on plastics

https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2019/01/we-can-stop-choking-our-oceans-with-plastic-waste-heres-how/

molded from heat

https://ecotricity.co.nz/facts-on-plastic-waste/#:~:text=Scientists%20estimate%208%20million%20metric,into%20the%20ocean%20every%20minute.&text=The%20annual%20amount%20of%20waste,tonnes%20to%203%20million%20tonnes.