The Problem of Plastics

Plastics, like diamonds, are forever. They don’t biodegrade. An estimated 63 pounds of plastics for each American enters landfills each year. Less than 4% of plastics are recycled in any way. The triangle of arrows around a number doesn’t automatically signify that the plastic product can be recycled! Only types 1 and 2 are easily recyclable.

Marine ecosystems are harmed by plastic debris. In the Central North Pacific, broken, degraded pieces of plastic outweigh surface zooplankton by 6 to 1. 90% of Laysan Albatross chick carcasses and regurgitated stomach contents contain plastics. Fish and other seabirds mistake plastics for food. Plastic debris release chemical additives and plasticizers into the ocean. Plastic also adsorbs hydrophobic pollutants, like PCBs, DDT. These pollutants bioaccumulate and biomagnify up the food chain, and find their way into the foods we eat.

Most plastic products begin as pre-production pellets. The United States alone manufactures more than 100 billion pounds annually. Each pound can contain between 10,000 and 20,000 pellets! Pellets have been found on every beach in North America. We are a culture immortalized by plastic.

Although plastic products benefit our lives in the medical industry, safety equipment and other technologies, it is imperative that the impact and long term effect plastic debris no longer be ignored.