Team 6: Stop Plastics & Waste
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“California, the most populous U.S. state and fifth-largest world economy, will effectively ban the use of most expanded plastic foam food containers on January 1, a move conservationists called a major development in the effort to limit plastic waste.
"We found that this could eliminate up to 3.9 billion pieces of foam ware every single year," Anja Brandon, director of plastics policy at the environmental nonprofit Ocean Conservancy.””
“…plastics are also responsible for significant harms to human health, the economy, and the earth’s environment. These harms occur at every stage of the plastic life cycle, from extraction of the coal, oil, and gas that are its main feedstocks through to ultimate disposal into the environment.”
“In South Carolina, a plastics manufacturing plant called Alpek Polyester Columbia dumped about 30,000 pounds of a chemical, 1,4-dioxane, into the Congaree River last year, with no limits on the pollutant – a likely carcinogen – in the plant’s discharge permit.
The Alpek plant was the largest discharger of 1,4-dioxane among plastics plants in the U.S. last year, releasing a pollutant that EPA last week concluded “poses an unreasonable risk of injury to human health” including in drinking water.
But despite this risk, EPA has set no national standards for plastics manufacturing plants to control 1,4-dioxane or several other harmful pollutants, including dioxins (a known carcinogen), and phosphorus.”
“…sweeping lawsuit against ExxonMobil… alleging that for more than 50 years it has deceived the public by fraudulently promoting recycling as the solution to the ever-growing global plastic waste crisis.”
“Plastics are made from polymers – synthetic chemical substances derived from oil and gas – and ExxonMobil is the world’s largest producer of polymers used to manufacture single-use plastics. The suit claims that ExxonMobil’s advertising, marketing and lobbying campaigns have peddled the false promise of plastics recycling, even while knowing recycling ‘will never be able to process more than a tiny fraction of the plastic waste it produces.’ ”
“Damage to the Arctic from the fossil fuel/petrochemical industry includes threats from chemicals, plastics, and climate. These have combined to poison lands, waters, and traditional foods of Arctic Indigenous Peoples, with ongoing health effects that threaten their cultures and communities.”
“Underpinning the plastic waste crisis is a campaign of fraud and deception that fossil fuel and other petrochemical companies have created and perpetuated for decades.
Through new and existing research, “The Fraud of Plastic Recycling” shows how Big Oil and the plastics industry have deceptively promoted recycling as a solution to plastic waste management for more than 50 years, despite their long-standing knowledge that plastic recycling is not technically or economically viable at scale.”
“American and European regulators have spent tens of millions subsidizing pyrolysis facilities. Half of all U.S. states have eased air pollution rules for the process, which has been found to release carcinogens like benzene and dioxins and give off more greenhouse gases than making plastic from crude oil.”
“Under all the math and engineering, I found an inconvenient truth: Not much is being recycled at all, nor is pyrolysis capable of curbing the plastic crisis.”
“…at the end of the day, nothing that comes out of pyrolysis physically contains more than 10% recycled material (though experts and studies have shown that, in practice, it’s more like 5% or 2%).”
“In reality, “advanced recycling” is just another harmful industry-driven false fix that delays and distracts from real solutions—most notably among them, turning off the plastic tap.”
“In fact, based on our analysis of eight “chemical recycling” plants in the United States, we found that (1) most “chemical recycling” facilities in the United States are not recycling any plastic, (2) “chemical recycling” facilities generate hazardous air pollutants and large quantities of hazardous waste, and (3) “chemical recycling” facilities tend to be located in communities that are disproportionately low income, people of color, or both.”
“…pyrolysis is anything but sustainable, describing it as energy-intensive manufacturing with a large carbon footprint that incinerates much of the plastic waste and mostly just makes new fossil fuels.”
“These technologies require large amounts of energy and emit significant pollutants and greenhouse gases…”
“They have found that the infiltration of microplastics was as widespread in the body as it is in the environment, leading to behavioral changes, especially in older test subjects.”
“They found that microplastic exposure induces both behavioral changes and alterations in immune markers in liver and brain tissues.”
“The detection of microplastics in tissues such as the heart and lungs, however, suggests that the microplastics are going beyond the digestive system and likely undergoing systemic circulation. The brain blood barrier is supposed to be very difficult to permeate. It is a protective mechanism against viruses and bacteria, yet these particles were able to get in there. It was actually deep in the brain tissue.”
“Microplastic pollution has been detected in human blood for the first time, with scientists finding the tiny particles in almost 80% of the people tested.”
“…it is essential to redefine plastics as complex chemical mixtures and to integrate chemical issues across the life cycle…”
“Out of more than 10,000 known plastics chemicals, at least 2400 are classified as toxic, such as many phthalates and brominated flame retardants”
Global Plastic Laws | Global Plastic Laws
Database includes 9 topics covering the full life cycle of plastics along with key issue areas.
“Plastics are made of chemicals and many of the 13,000 chemicals known to be used in plastics are hazardous and have been proven to negatively impact human health and the environment.”
Click here for study.
A study found infants using plastic bottles may be exposed to up to 1.5 million microplastic particles every day
“The deliberate dispersion of microplastics in the environment through the application of plastic-coated fertilizers and pesticides is one of the most direct and preventable sources of growing microplastic pollution in agricultural soils.
The use of plastic-coated synthetic fertilizers and pesticides is rising, with producers marketing their “controlled-release” function as a key to sustainable, climate-friendly agriculture.
Encapsulating agrochemicals in plastic and spreading them across soils and crops only compounds the significant health and environmental risks posed by agrochemicals and may exacerbate their harmful impacts.”
“…the agricultural sector is one of the most significant users of intentionally added microplastics.”
“Individually, each stage of the plastic life cycle poses significant risks to human health. Together, the life cycle impacts of plastic paint an unequivocally toxic picture: plastic threatens human health on a global scale.”
“Made from a combination of chemicals and fossil fuels, plastic produces greenhouse gas emissions at every stage of its life cycle. To provide context, if plastic were a country, it would be the world’s fifth largest greenhouse gas emitter,”
“The American Chemistry Council projects the chemical industry will spend $164 billion on 264 new plastics facilities or expansion projects by 2023.”
“If trends in oil consumption and plastic production continue as expected, “the consumption of oil by the entire plastics sector will account for 20% of the total consumption by 2050.”
Click here for more information about how chemical “recycling” is NOT a solution
Click here for Questions and Answers on Chemical “Recycling”
Watch out for the plastics and chemical industry trying to change state and federal regulations to greenwash chemical “recycling”. Click here for information.
Expanded Polystyrene (EPS) or Styrofoam, is a petroleum-based non-biodegradable foam, which the EPA and International Agency for Research on Cancer consider styrene a “possible human carcinogen” and “that such materials can have serious impacts upon human health, wildlife, and aquatic environment, and the economy.”
“Childhood…phthalate exposure was associated with 20% higher rate of childhood cancer overall, with a nearly three-fold higher rate of osteosarcoma diagnosis, a bone cancer, and a two-fold higher rate of lymphoma diagnosis, cancer of the blood.”
Dr. Sarah-Jeanne Royer, CleanEarth4Kids.org consultant, discovered plastic releases methane
Click for Surfrider's: Rise Above Plastics (RAP) Program
Only 9% of plastic is actually recycled. Click Here.
The technology to recycle Styrofoam does not exist and it requires more than a million years to decompose.
In 2019, the production and burning of plastic added more than 850 million metric tons of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere - equal to 189 five-hundred-megawatt coal power plants. Click Here.
Plastics have become a main revenue source for the fossil fuel and chemical industries.
We must stop using fossil fuels.
Let’s find ways to live without plastic and Styrofoam
Click for more information
Skip the balloons this 🎓 graduation season and next birthday 🎂 party. The best gift is a #CleanEarth4Kids
Balloons Kill More Seabirds Than Any Other Plastic, Here are Some Eco-Friendly Alternatives
Petition: Please Stop Fire Causing & Water Polluting Helium Filled Balloons in San Diego County
Zero Waste
What is Zero Waste?
Send nothing to a landfill, incinerator or the ocean.
Reduce, reuse, recycle, and compost.
The average American sends 4.4 pounds of trash to the landfill every DAY.
That’s 1,606 pounds every year for every american.
Sustainable Fashion: From the Red Carpet to Our Wardrobes
Fashion industry accounts for about 10% of global carbon emissions and almost 20% of waste water. Also uses more energy than the aviation and shipping industries combined!
Consumerism plays a huge role in climate change:
60 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions and between 50 and 80 percent of total land, material, and water use
Going Zero Waste
Green Oceanside
In a world drowning in trash, these cities have slashed waste by 80%
Oceanside Unified School District first school district in the Nation to commit to the goal of Zero Waste
The Secret to San Francisco’s Zero Waste Success
7 Success Stories from the Journey to Zero Waste
Tips for going Zero Waste
Waste Free San Diego
Zero Waste: The Choice for a Sustainable Community
ZERO WASTE O‘AHU
Zero Waste Case Studies
Sample Plastic Legislation
City of Carlsbad, CA
City of Encinitas, CA
City of Oceanside, CA
City of solana beach, ca
City of Vista, CA
Resources
Leave No trace
Less Plastic
Plastic Free Schools
Skip The Stuff
Students Take on Plastic (S.T.O.P.) - How To Implement a "S.T.O.P." Event in your School or Community
Articles
Aldi tells suppliers product packaging must be 100% recyclable, reusable or compostable by 2025
Canada to ban single-use plastics as early as 2021
Cigarette filters are the No.1 plastic pollutant ... and don't prevent cancer
EU Votes to Completely Ban Single-Use Plastics
Greenhouse Gasses from Plastic Pollution
How Styrofoam is Bad for the Environment
Humans have made 8.3bn tons of plastic since 1950
Humans Eat Over 40 Pounds of Plastic In A Lifetime
India takes a bold step for the planet by banning single-use plastics
Malibu Bans Plastic Straws and Utensils
Meet the ocean cleanup company that's removed 4.7 million pounds of trash
Microplastics are raining down from the sky
Microplastics detected in North American mountain snows
Mouse study finds BPA exposure has transgenerational effects on gene linked to autism
Oil companies double down on plastics as public outcry grows
Plastic Has A Big Carbon Footprint — But That Isn't The Whole Story
Plastic & Health: Hidden Costs of a Plastic Planet
Plastic & Microplastics are Constantly Exposing Us to Dangerous Endocrine-disrupting Chemicals
plastic pellets are the biggest pollution disaster you’ve never heard of
Scientists Accidentally Create Mutant Enzyme that Eats Plastic Bottles
Scientists discovered a mushroom that eats plastic, and believe it could clean our landfills
Students Engineer Bacteria That Can Transform Plastic Into CO2 And Water
Supermarkets in Asia are Now Using Banana Leaves Instead of Plastic Packaging
San Francisco Bay Microplastics Project
floating device created to clean up plastic from the ocean is finally doing its job
* Click on Links Below:
* Zero Waste
* Plastic Pollution Sample Legislation & Resources
* Stop Synthetic Turf
