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“Plastic Has A Big Carbon Footprint — But That Isn't The Whole Story”
Plastic is just a form of fossil fuel. Your plastic water bottle, your grocery bag, your foam tray full of cucumbers ... they're all made from oil or natural gas. It takes lots of energy to make that happen. The Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL) has gathered global data on how much climate-warming greenhouse gas is produced in making all that plastic, from cradle to grave. Here is a list:
1. Gas leaks that occur at the oil wellheads.
2. Leaks from pipelines that take oil and gas to chemical
plants.
3. The lengthy chemical process of turning oil or gas into
raw plastic resin.
4. Factory use of energy to fashion plastic into packaging or
car parts or textiles.
5. Transporting plastic products to consumers generates
more emissions.
6. Once plastic is used, it often gets burned to make
electricity, a source of greenhouse gases.
Altogether, the CIEL calculates that the greenhouse gas emissions from plastics production and incineration will account for 56 gigatons of carbon between now and 2050, by which time the Copenhagen Accord aims to have kept all emissions to no more than 565 gigatons. That means that plastics may be the source of ten percent of all global emissions over the next 30 years.
To make matters worse, the World Economic Forum estimates that human consumption of plastics is likely to grow, not diminish. If people do not change their behavior, the use of plastics may quadruple by 2050. And yet when calculating the carbon emissions caused by plastics, and then comparing its carbon load to other packaging and production materials, plastic often causes less carbon emission.
Moreover, the climate isn't necessarily all that matters. There are other things to consider when assessing plastic's legacy—like near-permanent litter and health effects. Carbon footprint analyses usually don't measure the costs and effects of having to clean up plastic litter.
Environmental groups are trying to sort out the plastic versus paper problem. If people want less plastic, they'll have to pick replacements carefully. We cannot “solve” one problem only to “create” a new one.
Waste experts agree that there's too much trash, whether it's plastic or paper or something else. And people are making more of it than ever.
Most likely, a major solution to climate change and pollution is “hiding in plain sight.” Humans must embrace the 6 R’s— to recycle, reduce, repair, reuse, rethink, and refuse.
alternatives assessing cradle to grave diminish embrace foam grocery
VOCABULARY
incineration legacy packaging permanent quadruple replacements resin
stomachs textiles versus wellheads whales
Christopher Joyce, National Public Radio (9 July 2019). Adapted from the original.
Koji Sasahara/AP
Plastic waste gets a lot of attention when photos of dead whales with stomachs full of plastic bags hit the news. Overlooked, however, is how making plastic in the first place affects the environment and climate.
Plastic, itself, leaves a big carbon footprint. And so do the alternatives to plastic. And that's what makes replacing plastic such a huge challenge. If replacement is a problem, then a further challenge is to embrace the six R’s—to recycle, reduce, repair, reuse, rethink, and refuse.
BENDING BAMBOO
CLIMATE | CHAPTER 2 87