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By December, the world could benefit from the first global treaty to reduce plastic pollution. If nothing is done, it is expected to triple by 2060, according to the OECD. How did we get there? What are the impacts on the environment and climate?
Global plastic production
Since the 1950s, global production of synthetic polymers, based on fossil oil or gas, has increased 230-fold, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). It doubled between 2000 and 2019, to 460 million tonnes (Mt), growing faster than other basic products, steel, aluminum or cement.
By 2060, if nothing is done, the international body predicts that total production will almost triple, to 1.2 billion tonnes.
Growth took place mainly in the United States, the Middle East, and China.
Europe produced 55 Mt in 2020, down 5% compared to 2019.
Global plastic consumption
The pandemic and the crises that followed had two main and opposing effects on consumption: on the one hand, the skyrocketing use of single-use plastic in health, food sales, and online commerce; on the other, the decline since 2020 in consumption in sectors linked to the downturn in the global economy and inflation, such as wholesale trade, the automobile industry and construction.
Global waste production
The production of plastic waste has more than doubled in 20 years, going from 156 Mt in 2000 to 353 Mt in 2019. It is expected to almost triple to 1.014 billion tonnes by 2060, according to OECD projections.
More than two thirds are objects whose lifespan is less than five years: packaging, consumer products, textiles.
In 2019, 22 million tonnes of plastic were released into the environment, including 6 Mt in rivers, lakes and oceans, according to the OECD. Plastics represent “at least 85% of total marine waste”, according to the United Nations.
The majority of the 22 Mt (82%) is attributable to poor waste management. The remaining share is due to abrasion and microplastic losses (12%), litter (5%) and maritime activities (1%).
By 2060, the OECD predicts that the volume of waste in the environment will double to 44 Mt, mainly macroplastics (87% of releases). But the share of microplastics should “more than double in absolute weight and represent 13% of releases into the environment in 2060”.
To date, 139 Mt of plastics have accumulated in the planet’s aquatic environments, including 1.7 Mt in the oceans, at the end of a long process that can take years and “fundamentally altering marine and terrestrial ecosystems”. according to the OECD.
Of the total, only 9% globally is recycled, 19% is incinerated and almost 50% ends up in controlled landfills. The remaining 22% is abandoned in illegal landfills, burned in the open air or released into the environment.
Rich OECD countries contribute 14% to global emissions, but 36% to microplastic emissions.
Non-OECD countries account for 86% of plastic releases, mainly due to the amount of poorly managed waste that ends up in the environment.
Impact on the environment, climate
The impacts on the environment, health, climate and human health linked to plastics”worsen considerably” notes the OECD. Plastic waste accumulated in the environment is not biodegradable, takes hundreds of years to decompose, produces micro and nano-plastics.
They “suffocate marine species, negatively impact soils, poison groundwater“, and can have “serious repercussions on health“, according to the UN.
“Plastic particles are everywhere, in tap water, in the water we drink, in groundwater” warns Greenpeace.
Plastics also contribute to the climate crisis: in 2019, they generated 1.8 billion tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions, or 3.4% of global emissions, 90% of which came from production and the transformation of plastics from fossil raw materials, according to the UN and the OECD.