Impacts on Environment
The effects of plastic on the environment are widespread and detrimental.
The equivalent of 2,000 garbage trucks full of plastic are dumped into aquatic environments every day.
This adds up to an annual load of 19-23 million tons of plastic waste escaping into our lakes, rivers and oceans.
Food containers and packaging are the largest component of the US municipal solid waste stream (80 million tons or 31.7%). Plastic single-use foodware products are the most frequently found items in beach clean-ups around the world.
The plastic industry is inherently tied to human-driven climate change, as plastic is created using oil and fracked natural gas. In fact, the plastic industry alone is responsible for 4-8% of global oil production, and the United States’ plastic industry alone produces more emissions than the entire country of Kuwait. This impact will only increase as plastic production increases: a recent study predicted that by 2030, plastics will be responsible for more global emissions than coal plants.
To decrease environmental pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, we must reduce our reliance on single-use plastics, reduce plastic production, switch to more sustainable packaging and reuse options, and improve recycling outcomes in Washington.