Cormac Ryan
Why Plastic Pollution Is A Global Problem
Intro
Plastic is a big problem in the environment, as more disposable plastic has boosted its production all over the world. This overwhelms governments in a rush to defeat plastic. People have become so desperate that they are writing a global treaty negotiated by the United Nations.
Everyday Uses That You Wouldn’t Think About
It’s nearly impossible to go throughout your day without using plastic. Plastic face wash and shampoo bottles, toothbrushes, and makeup containers greet us in the morning. Plastic-lined paper coffee cups fuel our workday and plastic forks, knives, spoons, and plates greet us at lunch. Plastic packaging is tossed in the bin as we unwrap dinner ingredients and plastic helps us scrub our dishes clean when we’re done.
Plastic Life
More than 90% of plastic isn’t recycled and it’s estimated to take anywhere from 500 to 1,000 years for plastic to break down in landfills. If it isn’t recycled or incinerated, this trash often finds its way into streams, rivers, and oceans where animals can’t help but eat plastic, often because it smells like food to them.
Top Plastic Producers
The top producer of plastic is Brazil. It has a population of 209.5 million and roughly each person creates 5280 pounds of plastic a year. Also only eight percent of plastic is recycled. In second place you have the USA with 325 million people. Each person averagely creates 234 pounds of plastic per year. 35% of plastic is recycled.In 3 place comes Germany with 83.2 million people. Each person roughly generates 101 pounds of plasticper year. However Germany does recycle 64% of plastic. And then in fourth place you have China. With 1.444 Billion people and an average of 91.25 pounds a year each. It also has 1% of recyclable plastic.
How did this happen?
Plastics made from fossil fuels are just over a century old. Production and development of thousands of new plastic products accelerated after World War II, so transforming the modern age that life without plastics would be unrecognizable today. Plastics revolutionized medicine with life-saving devices, made space travel possible, lightened cars and jets—saving fuel and pollution—and saved lives with helmets, incubators, and equipment for clean drinking water.
The conveniences plastics offer, however, led to a throw-away culture that reveals the material’s dark side: today, single-use plastics account for 40 percent of the plastic produced every year. Many of these products, such as plastic bags and food wrappers, have a lifespan of mere minutes to hours, yet they may persist in the environment for hundreds of years.
Conclusion
I believe that the plastic problem needs to be fixed. It is a fast-moving problem and will continue to ruin cities. For people in the future, I believe that we should give them a nice planet.
