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A British study shows that in 2020 alone, more than 50 million tons of plastic were not disposed of properly worldwide. The problem is greatest in countries in the Global South, where waste is not collected or only collected irregularly.
India is the source region for almost a fifth of global plastic waste pollution. In 2020, more than nine million tons of plastic were not disposed of properly there. This is the finding of British researchers who used computer models and artificial intelligence (AI) to identify the global hotspots of plastic waste pollution.
The problem is particularly bad in India, but large quantities of plastic waste are also carelessly disposed of in countries such as Nigeria, Indonesia, China, and Pakistan. “The British study has shown quite shockingly how big the difference is between the Global North and the Global South. It really is the case that much more plastic ends up in the environment in the Global South,” explains environmental geoscientist Thilo Hofmann from the University of Vienna, as published by orf.at
Burnt plastic pollutes the air
Hofmann was not involved in British research but has long been concerned with the effects of global plastic waste pollution. According to him, the fact that more plastic ends up in the environment in the Global South than in the Global North is mainly due to countries’ often non-existent or poorly functioning waste disposal systems. “People there often don’t have a choice. They have no system; the waste is not collected and is therefore not sent to landfill sites where it could be incinerated in an orderly manner. This means they have no way of disposing of their waste properly.”
This has led to over 52 million tons of plastic waste being released into the environment worldwide in 2020 alone. “What particularly surprised me about the British study results was that around 60 percent of plastic waste is openly incinerated. This is shocking because the plastic is not disposed of in landfill sites but often simply on small fires at the side of the road. This creates an enormous amount of toxins, chemicals, and air pollution,” says Hofmann.
According to environmental geoscientists, the fact that so much plastic waste is openly incinerated is hardly known until now, and the effects of waste incineration have not yet been sufficiently researched. “I think the British study will initiate some important follow-up investigations.”
Toxic microplastics enter the body
According to Hofmann, the toxic additives often contained in plastic are just one of many reasons plastic should not end up in the environment. “Another major problem is, of course, that plastic generally breaks down very poorly. This means that some plastic products can remain in the environment for 500 or even 1,000 years and then accumulate in the sea, on beaches, or in farmland.”
Over time, plastic products not disposed of properly become microplastics—plastic particles smaller than five millimeters—or even smaller nanoplastics. These particles disperse even more easily in the environment and are often ingested by animals and humans—along with the toxins they contain. As a result, microplastics have even been detected in the human carotid artery.
Plastic production harms the climate
Another problem with plastic production is that the processes required contribute to global warming. “Currently, around three to almost five percent of total global greenhouse gas emissions come from plastic production—and this figure is rising,” says Hofmann. The environmental geoscientist assumes that around 20 years, around 20 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions will come solely from plastic production.
Data from 50,000 cities analyzed
Due to the many problems associated with plastic, Hofmann sees the British study, which was published in the scientific journal Nature, as a very important step forward. Although studies on the causes and extent of pollution have already been carried out in the past, these have largely been carried out at the country level.
However, the British researchers took a closer look at the problem: they collected extensive waste data for more than 50,000 cities worldwide and closed data gaps using artificial intelligence and computer models. “This data has really been missing until now. We can measure plastic pollution on our mountains and rivers retrospectively, but until now, we didn’t know exactly where we were losing the plastic, i.e., where it was actually ending up in the environment,” says Hofmann.
The situation in Africa is worsening
According to the study results, India is currently the leader in global plastic waste production. However, with 3.5 million tons of plastic waste, Nigeria is already the second largest plastic emitter. “It is assumed that even more plastic will soon be released into the environment in some African regions because strong population growth is expected there. In ten to twenty years, African regions could replace India as the largest waste producers,” says Hofmann.
“We have to get out of the packaging madness.”
Although the largest amounts of plastic waste end up in the environment in the Global South, Hofmann believes that global efforts are needed to tackle the problem. Recycling plastic is very important, but not enough. “We need to tackle the problem with several measures, but it would be particularly important—and many experts agree on this—to strictly limit the total production of new plastic.”
A particularly big thorn in Hofmann’s side is the trend of packaging products in several layers of plastic. “We really need to get away from this packaging madness. Otherwise, we will suffocate in all this plastic at some point.”
Correct use is crucial
At the same time, the environmental geoscientist makes it clear that plastic does have advantages, provided it is used correctly and disposed of properly. “It’s hard to imagine the medical sector today without plastic, for example, and the use of plastic in agriculture can also save both water and pesticides.”
Therefore, it is important to use plastic only where it is needed. To reduce production costs and the associated greenhouse gas emissions, Hofmann would also like to consider how a product can be recycled later in manufacturing without harming the environment.
- source: orf.at/picture: pixabay.com
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