Andreoni, Manuela. “The Plastic Problem.” The New York Times, 17 Jan. 2023, www.nytimes.com/2023/01/06/climate/plastics-climate-pollution.html.
Plastics are a jack of all trades used throughout our daily lives, from clothes to medicine. However, almost half of all plastics are single-use and end up in our landfills, oceans, and even in organisms, including humans. Negotiations are currently underway to decide what plastic management system should be in place worldwide. The two significant proposals are the “High Ambition Coalition to End Plastic Pollution,” which aims to set a binding target for the amount of plastic each country can produce. The other proposal is put forth by fossil fuel producers like the US and Saudi Arabia, which seek to focus on recycling plastic and have voluntary commitments rather than enforced goals like the Montreal proposal, which has shown success in preventing climate change.
To fight climate change, goals must be set with punishments for those who fail to reach those goals. For too long has, the planet suffered at the expense of greedy nations like the United States, who seek to profit while destroying our planet. While recycling helps fight climate change, it could be more effective in making the significant change needed to slow it on a large scale. If the United States lowers its plastic production, we can focus on getting the current plastic out of the environment rather than stopping new plastic from entering the atmosphere. While turning to alternatives for plastic will be a hard endeavor due to our reliance on them in our daily lives, a sacrifice must be made to protect the environment. Plastics have had many beneficial uses like revolutionizing medicine, but there needs to be innovation in more eco-friendly ways to take the place of plastics in the United States.
I agree that countries like the US need to do better to reduce plastic production and consumption, in order to protect the environment. I think it’s interesting how countries like the US and Saudi Arabia, which produce a lot of plastics and oil, are promoting recycling, while other countries with less of a vested interest in the petroleum industry are advocating to reduce plastic production and use in the first place. This definitely goes to show the impact of countries’ self-interest in developing environmental policy. I wonder how these policies impact consumers? Are there convenience, efficiency, or durability pitfalls to using recycled plastics? Or, if we reduced plastic production in the first place, what alternatives would consumers turn towards?
Thanks for the comment. There will definitely be major impacts on consumers if the amount of plastic produced is decreased. Many alternatives to plastics are multi-use containers and biodegradable single-use Items rather than using single-use plastic.
I agree with your opposition to plastics, although I do not believe the “High Ambition Coalition to End Plastic Pollution” is the correct solution. Any cap on plastic production must equally to production as consumption. Since the U.S. and European nations import so many products from foreign nations, their environmental impact spans further than just production. Does the article state how we will ensure that plastic is actually recycled? I heard that much of recycling goes into landfill because of improper trash classification.
Thanks for the comment. While there are many plastic recycling plants much of the plastic is still dumped in landfills due to the inefficiency of current recycling methods and the poor waste management system.
While this issue is very pressing and should be addressed urgently, I do not feel the current approach is correct. Given that a lot of the harm of plastic is through the after effects and post use harm, I think a solution to deal with it would be much more effective of an approach. Are there any current developments to more effectively deal with plastics?
Thanks for the comments. There are many innovations aimed at tackling the current plastic waste already in our environment such as new recycling methods, however in order to make any real change to the amount of plastic waste their needs to be a reduction in the amount of waste that is being produced daily.